God has a way of changing us deeply through various crisis points in our lives.

But what happens when God strings together a long series of crisis points? Eventually the trail of change-points will lead somewhere, like stepping-stones crossing a river. As we realize this, our collection of snapshot crises starts to become a movie with a story line.

But how does one tell where the story is supposed to be going? That's not easy. God assures us that he has plans for our lives, but it can be hard to tell where those plans might lead. Sometimes it would be nice to have a burning-bush episode like Moses had—something concrete you could see through the fog of life's busyness (see Exodus 3).

Why is it so difficult to determine God's direction for our lives? Sometimes it's simply because we forget to ask. It's surprisingly easy to charge into the events of a day without bothering to ask God what he wants from us that day. Sometimes that can prompt God to allow a minor crisis to pop up as a wake-up call to pull our attention back to him.

When was the last time you asked God to show you his plans for your day?

How about asking him right now?