I have noticed that when my kids walk with me and they don't know the way or they sense danger, then they slip their hands into mine.  When disoriented, stick with Dad.  This is a lot more comforting than getting directions or looking at a map – just stick with Dad and you don't really need to know the way.  Stay with Dad and you are guaranteed to arrive at Dad's destination.  Sometimes they don't even care about the destination, they just want to be with Dad.  Kids can enjoy the day with Dad armed only with a general sense of where we are going.  They don't need a lot of explanation or a detailed schedule.

By contrast, if we haven't got a certain and compelling knowledge of God's will, we Christians tend to look at things that can be seen: these conditions, those circumstances, this logic, that result.  Instead of falling to our knees many of us turn to our lists of pros and cons.  But we really only have two things to guide us: 1- our own desires (we'll find reasons to support them), and 2- the often hidden will of God. Sometimes the two coincide, and sometimes they clash.

We'd do better to treat the search for God's specific intentions as a fresh opportunity to fellowship with Him.  This is the wisdom I have learned from young children – when disoriented, stick with Dad. Enjoy being with Him.

When our Mongolian friends are on a long journey, they take delays in stride because they are focused on enjoying the journey.  The trip is a series of interesting experiences.  Enjoy the fellowship.  Take in the changing scenery.  Eventually we will get there.  Westerners like me think of the trip as an inconvenience that must be endured in order to reach the destination.

Certainly God gives wisdom and direction (Jn. 15:15), but does He want us to rush off by ourselves just because we know the way forward?  It's much better for us to seek out the God Who hides Himself (Is. 45:15).  Then we can enjoy the changing scenery of our journey with Him, and begin to appreciate unseen things – the promptings of His Spirit and the most valuable things:

• The influence of a godly leader
  
  
• The impact of a word spoken in season
  
  
• The power of an act of kindness
  
  
• The liberation won by forgiveness
  
  
• The mystery of eternal rewards

May the Lord guide us all in New Life and make us fruitful . . .'as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.' (2 Cor. 4:18)