At any given point in our lives, we’re facing brand-new realities we haven’t experienced before. As we navigate the novelty of each situation, we need God to guide us (Joshua 3:4), and when we fully trust Him and His timing, he leads us to victory. As He guides us, God demands full obedience, but if we try to do things in our own, those hidden problems we were pushing off to the side on the way to the victory are revealed for all to see (Joshua 7:1-5). To trust God in each new circumstance requires faith, and it’s knowing that the God that we serve has a perfect plan and timing that often looks different from what we think is “right.” As a King, He still comes to us with a servant’s heart filled with humbleness, and this character trait reminds us that His ways are different from those of this world (John 12:14-15).

We all want God to meet of our needs (and sometimes our wants, too), but what He is focused on is doing what’s best for us. Jesus has more to give than we could ever expect or imagine, and often, this means His timing and ways don’t match up with our own. When things don’t turn out how we want them to, it’s easy to turn our backs on God in disappointment. But we don’t dictate who God is or how He works! Our Father is always at work, even when we don’t see or feel it, and if we let our hearts become hard with disappointment, we’ll miss the miracle He has for us on the other side (Luke 19:41-44).