Are you following the signs, or are you following God?
Life can be full of changes and transitions, so it only makes sense that we would want to make good choices during those decisions, by following signs that we feel are from God.
Over the last couple of decades, I've had the honor of walking through life transitions with dozens of people. Some of those decisions have been done well, while others have left people sidetracked. But one of the common things people talk about when making those changes is when God is showing them a sign that they should change careers, get married, move to a different part of town, go to Africa, etc, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I do believe that God often leads us with certain signs, that may come in the form of open doors, confirmation through trusted friends, or a myriad of other ways, however, I've seen the tendency for people to easily start following a sign, and forget to follow God. What I mean by this, is that people may have been led by God a certain way in previous transitions, and so when they see a similar circumstance, they automatically give that "sign" legitimacy and look for a change to happen in the same way it happened before. They may use such phrases like, "God did this particular thing when we made the last transition, and we see that same thing happening, so it must be God telling us to transition again." Or, another is this, "The last two career changes happened the exact same way, so the next career change is going to happen in the same manner."
Unfortunately, what this trust in a sign does, is it can easily open us up for deception and may lead us to make changes that, either shouldn't have been made at all or should be made in a different way than what we've considered. In this circumstance, we will have replaced the direction of God with the direction of a sign, and forgotten to invite Him into the possibility of wanting to do something in an entirely new way.
If you're in a situation where you're seeing a "sign" and you believe that change is on the way, here are some tips to help make those decisions well:
Before you emotionally get involved with making a decision, process what is happening with mature friends and pastors. If your emotions have already made the change, it's nearly impossible to not go through with that decision.
God's direction is not bi-polar. For example, He will not tell you one week that you have found a permanent home, and the next week tells you to move.
God's direction for you will not contradict His own character. He will not ask us to do things that He wouldn't do. For example, God's nature tells us that He will never abandon us, so He wouldn't ask you to leave behind commitments to people without a process for a healthy transition that doesn't leave people feeling abandoned.
Consider that what God is asking you to do, might be worked out in a way that you hadn't experienced before, or have never considered. For example, in the case of a career change, maybe you've always transitioned from one job to the next in a way where, one week you're working at the XYZ company, and the next, you're working for the ABC company. Possibly this time around, God is wanting you to make that transition differently, where you may still work part-time for XYZ, but also working part-time for ABC. The key to this is to not jump to conclusions, and allow the Lord to do something unique in your life.
God is not in a hurry, so neither should we be. Hurried decisions are rarely done well. The timing of a change is just as important as the location of the change.
A correct choice will carry peace, not regret. If peace is not accompanying your decision, that's a good way of telling that you don't have the complete picture yet, so don't rush to make that change.
Don't make changes during highly emotional seasons. If you've recently experienced a death in the family, or extreme financial hardships, or relational difficulties, or huge disappointments, it's really hard to process transitions in a way where we are seeing and hearing correctly.
Ultimately, it all comes down to being pliable and teachable, allowing God to uniquely speak into your situation through His voice and those trusted people around you.
