Last week I mentioned I felt I may be doing good works to please others or even myself. I believed I was doing what God had shown me, so how was I working to please others?

God gave me the desire to help a single woman with a tiny baby. I loved the bright smile of the little girl and getting to know her mother and how I could best help them. I helped her with a resume and how to search for a job. Then one day she said, “I am a single mother, I should be given enough money that I don’t have to leave my child to work.”

Another woman I befriended was in an abusive relationship. After she was taken to the hospital with broken ribs, I offered to help her move to a women’s shelter. She declined my offer. The situation was similar to one I had been through a couple years ago. I helped that lady move out only to have her move right back in.

I started a self-esteem support group for women. The first three-month session, six women came and I saw real improvement in two of them. The second session, no one came.

Was I doing things on my own or was God really guiding me to these people? I was becoming discouraged when I didn’t see the results I expected. That’s it! I was waiting for the outcome I wanted. Doing God’s will isn’t a matter of seeing the results I want. I knew when I connected my work with a favorable outcome that I was working for myself. God led me to be a positive light to others and He would use it to His benefit. I may only be watering a seed that may not be ripe to harvest for years. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Colossians 3:23

Have you ever felt God asked you to do something but it didn’t turn out the way you expected? How did you react? Discouraged? Disappointed? Doubted that you even heard God? How did you regain your trust in your feeling God’s guidance?