Have you ever found yourself asking, “What’s next?”  We can ask that question about a whole host of life issues. What I am referring to is the next major event from a national or global perspective. I am asking about the impact that will come when that next major event pays us a visit. When that happens, I want to be ready to love and serve people when our world is turned upside down and fear is rampant.

There is a lot of guessing taking place about what’s next.  Some of the guessing has enough facts attached to it to provide a sense of credibility. At the end of the day, nobody really knows for sure.

As the firehose of information, predictions, and pontifications flows daily at full speed, we need to pull the hose out of our mouths long enough to stop and listen to the Lord. I did that recently and something wonderful happened. I experienced a silence. The silence was the context where He would answer my question. Only when we choose to still all the outside voices will we be able to hear the still small voice of God.

The answer to my “What’s Next?” question involved an assignment to prepare me for what was coming. Paul detailed what that assignment required of me, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).