When You Feel Stuck Because You Know God Has More for You—But You Don’t Know What It Is
- Christi Young
- Dec 8
- 5 min read
There is a particular kind of stuckness that does not come from laziness, fear alone, or lack of opportunity. It comes from holy tension—the quiet, persistent sense that God has something more for your life, something meaningful, something weighty… and yet you cannot see what it is.
You pray.You wait.You search.You wonder if you have missed it.
And the uncertainty itself becomes exhausting.
Many believers quietly carry this question in their hearts:“I know God wants me to do something with my life. But what is it?”
This kind of stuckness is not failure. It is often the threshold of formation.
The Hidden Pressure to “Figure Out” God’s Will
In Christian culture, God’s will is often spoken about as if it were a single destination you must discover—one career, one calling, one defining assignment. This can create deep anxiety:
“What if I choose wrong?”
“What if I miss what God planned?”
“What if I already failed my purpose?”
This pressure can paralyze people who sincerely love God.
Yet Scripture gives a surprisingly simple and demanding answer when asked about God’s will for our lives.
Jesus said:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30–31)
This is not a secondary teaching.This is the center.
Before God tells us what to do, He tells us how to live.
God’s Will Is First a Relationship, Not an Assignment
Many people are waiting for God to reveal a task, when God is inviting them into a deeper way of loving.
Oswald Chambers wrote:
“The great enemy of faith in you is not the devil, but your own will. The one great demand made on you is to abandon your will to God.”
Feeling stuck often comes from wanting clarity without surrender.
But God typically does the opposite:He calls us into surrender before clarity.
C.S. Lewis expressed this tension powerfully:
“If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
God is far more committed to forming your heart than relieving your uncertainty.
What It Actually Means to Love God With Your Whole Life
Loving God is not primarily:
Emotional intensity
Perfect obedience
Constant spiritual excitement
It is daily alignment.
To love God with your whole heart means:
You bring Him your confusion.
You offer Him your resistance.
You let Him rearrange what you treasure.
To love God with your mind means:
You allow Him to challenge your assumptions.
You stop demanding instant explanations.
To love God with your strength means:
You choose faithfulness in small, unseen ways.
You obey even when nothing feels dramatic.
Oswald Chambers wrote:
“The real test of spiritual life is not whether you can talk about spiritual truths, but whether you can live them.”
Often, God’s will is not hidden in a dramatic revelation—but in faithfulness that feels ordinary.
Loving Your Neighbor Is Not a Side Mission—It Is the Mission
Many people say they want to know God’s will for their lives while neglecting the very people God has already placed in front of them.
Loving your neighbor is not:
Being nice when it’s convenient
Avoiding conflict at all costs
Staying silent about truth
It is:
Showing up when it costs you
Speaking truth with humility
Being present in others’ suffering
Choosing compassion when resentment would be easier
C.S. Lewis wrote:
“Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love them.”
God often reveals your direction through who He places in your path, not just through what He places in your dreams.
Are You Waiting for Purpose While God Is Asking for Presence?
Many people feel stuck because they are waiting for God to assign them something “important,” while God is asking them to be faithful where they are.
You may not feel called yet to:
A platform
A ministry
A business
A public impact
But you are already called to:
Love without condition
Forgive deeply
Serve quietly
Speak truth gently
Walk humbly
Oswald Chambers wrote:
“We are not here to prove God’s sovereignty by running to and fro in a hurry of activity. We are here to be absolutely and entirely yielded to Him.”
Sometimes the deepest obedience is staying where you are and becoming fully present there.
The Pain of Unfulfilled Longing Is Not Wasted
That ache you feel—that sense that life is meant for something more—was placed in you by God.
C.S. Lewis wrote:
“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Your longing is not only about your future calling.It is about your eternal home.
When purpose becomes your god, frustration follows.When God becomes your center, purpose unfolds in His timing.
What If God’s Will Is Already Happening in You?
Instead of asking only:“What does God want me to do?”
It may be time to ask:
“What is God forming in me right now?”
“Where is He deepening my trust?”
“What attachments is He loosening?”
“What false identities is He dismantling?”
Oswald Chambers wrote:
“God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome.”
The “stuck” season is often the training ground.
How to Walk Forward When You Feel Spiritually Stuck
You do not need to solve your entire future to take your next step. But you do need to honestly examine:
Am I loving God with all that I understand right now?
Am I loving people in the spaces I already occupy?
Am I being faithful with what is already in my hands?
C.S. Lewis warned:
“The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving it all back… listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view.”
That “other voice” is often quiet.
But it is steady.
You Are Not Behind—You Are Being Prepared
Feeling stuck does not mean God has forgotten you.
It often means God is protecting you from running ahead of what your soul is ready to carry.
You are not being delayed.
You are being formed.
God’s will is not a hidden code you must crack.
It is a relationship you must live.
Love God fully.
Love others faithfully.
Trust Him with the rest.
And purpose will meet you on the road of obedience—not at the end of certainty.
Reflection Questions: When You Feel Stuck in God’s Will
1. Understanding the Feeling of Being “Stuck”
When did you first begin sensing that God had “more” for your life? What was happening in your life at that time?
What does “feeling stuck” look like emotionally for you—anxiety, restlessness, disappointment, fear, numbness, or something else?
In what areas of your life do you feel the most tension between where you are and where you believe God is leading you?
What do you fear most about not knowing what God’s will is right now?
How has this season shaped the way you view God—His timing, His care, or His nearness?
2. Examining Expectations About God’s Will
Where did you learn your understanding of “God’s will” (church, family, past teaching, personal experience)?
Do you tend to think of God’s will more as a specific assignment or a daily way of living? How does that affect your peace?
How much pressure do you place on yourself to “figure out” your calling?
What do you believe would happen if you chose the “wrong” direction?
How do uncertainty and control interact in your relationship with God?
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