It’s not what you do when you know what to do, but what you do when you don’t know what to do that makes a difference in this life.” There is a great deal of truth in this simple saying.

There are many times when we really don’t know just what we should do. When the course is clear and we know exactly what we should do it is much simpler, even though we may not even then do what we know we ought. But when our path is shrouded with fog and we cannot see the way clearly, the way we walk then really does make a difference.

Solomon, even before God gave him the wisdom for which he is so well known, still had enough wisdom to realize that he did not know what to do. He expressed it beautifully when he told God. ”I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.” What he did when he did not know what to do really made a difference in his life as it will in ours. He asked God to guide him. His request to God was, ”Give thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” We are told that this ”speech pleased the Lord.”

God will be pleased with us also if we will simply ask Him to guide our steps when we do not know what to do. Solomon was probably thinking back on this occasion when he wrote in the Proverbs that we should ”Trust in the LORD with all our heart; and lean not unto our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our paths.”

This is what we should do when we don’t know what to do. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Ask God to guide our steps. Tell God we are but a little child and we don’t know how to go out or come in. God can use us when we acknowledge that we don’t know what to do and prayerfully and humbly ask Him to direct our paths.

James gives us good advice along these same lines when he says, ”If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”

So we see it takes humility and faith to do what is right when we don’t know what to do. Humility to pray to God that we don’t know what to do and faith in believing that He will answer that prayer and give us wisdom so that we will know what to do.

After taking these two important steps, there is one final thing that must be done and this is where many fail. We must then move into action. God will guide our feet but not while we are sitting down. After we have prayed and really believe that God hears, God cares, and God will guide us, then we need to get up and get going. God does not give us open revelation. He opens and closes doors as we move forward.

Some have asked God to guide their steps when they had already decided what they were going to do and they proceed pel mel in the direction they want, with little or no regard to God. Rarely will God intervene if we only give Him lip service that we want Him to guide our steps. He did strike Paul down as Paul raced to Damascus and turned him around, but more often God will simply allow us to go in the wrong direction if that seems to be our desire. It is important that we truly mean it when we ask God to give us wisdom and then we move forward in full assurance that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The key to our success lies in really believing the wise counsel of Solomon to ”Trust in the LORD with all our heart; and lean not unto our own understanding.” Then and only then will ”He direct our paths.”