Say What?

Maybe it's heretical to say this, but from a human perspective it's true: The Bible can be frustrating sometimes.

Seriously, maybe you don't have a jar of Bible verses on slips of paper like I do, but there are other times when a verse comes up somewhere (church, a book, the internet) and strikes your heart, but you have no idea why. You're left wondering, "Why does this affect me? What am I supposed to get from this? Is there some obvious application that I'm missing?" This very situation just happened for me, and thankfully I do have a jar of verses, and I just drew another one (which ended up being two). 
The first verse was Psalm 119:105, a very familiar section: "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." In this case I wasn't really confused about why it struck me. There's definitely things I and the people around me are going through right now (and always, but especially right now) that are in serious need of divine guidance. But this verse is one that makes you say, "Okay...what now?" It's a wonderful reminder that we should look to God first when we don't know where to go, but where am I supposed to look? Again, thank God I have more verses to pull from.
The next verse I looked at was 2 Corinthians 4:17, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."     Now that's a different thought. It feels like a primer. God says to look to his Word, but rather than always giving instructions right away he begins with comfort. What a testimony of how our God loves us! He understands that we get overwhelmed. So he reminds us that, firstly, our troubles are not as huge as they seem. It's a reality check. We make all kinds of decisions and run into all kinds of issues every day. Some of them truly are momentary. Some of them have lasting effects. All of them pale in comparison to what's really important. Christ suffered all the pain and frustration we do and then died a brutally painful death so that we might have rest and glory at the end of our days. We can breathe deeply and trust in God's mercy and love, knowing that he's been there and he won't just let us ruin our lives. He's watching out for us!
So I went on to read the third verse that fell out "on accident". This one was Isaiah 51:7: "Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults."
As always with God's Word, the answer isn't unmistakably clear. We still have free will. Unfortunately God doesn't just whisper instructions specific to each day when we wake up. However, it gives a good piece of advice: In the end, as long as you're following God's will to the best of your knowledge and ability, the opinions of people aren't that important. In all likelihood, every major decision we make in our lives will be criticized by someone, whether it's an acquaintance that barely influences us or our closest friends and family members. That's why it's so important to pray. Maybe it's hokey, or hard to believe, but I think that when a right decision is made God puts peace in our hearts. Feeling confused and conflicted is normal. But after prayer and consideration the conflict should give way to joy, however tentative. God has a plan for all of us, and he never lets us stray too far from the fold.