Not everyone will understand what God is doing in you

Some of the things God asks you to do will look like a waste to people who don’t know what He told you.

People can only judge the decision they see but cannot see the conversation you had with God that led you there.

So maybe you made a decision people questioned.

Maybe you walked away from something everyone thought you should hold onto.

Maybe you started saying no to things you used to say yes to.

Maybe you became quieter. More intentional. More prayerful.

Maybe God began changing your desires, your priorities, your relationships, or even the direction you thought your life was going in.

And suddenly, people began asking questions.

“What happened to you?”

“Why would you do that?”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t you think you’re being too much?”

“Are you sure this will work?”

“Is this what you want to do with your life?”

There is a woman in the Bible who walked into a room carrying something precious.

She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume, and when she found Jesus, she broke the jar and poured it over Him.

It was extravagant. It was costly. And to some people in that room, it was wasteful.

They questioned why the perfume had not been sold and the money given to the poor. They saw the price of what she had poured out, but they didn’t understand the heart behind it.

But Jesus did.

While everyone else was calculating the cost, Jesus was recognizing the love.

While they saw waste, He saw worship.

While they questioned her action, Jesus defended her.

“She has done a beautiful thing to me.” — Mark 14:6

I think there are seasons when we need to remember this.

Not everyone will understand what God is doing in you.

And sometimes, they don’t understand because they simply cannot see what you see.

They don’t know the conversations you’ve had with God.

They don’t know the convictions He has been placing on your heart.

They don’t know what you’ve had to surrender privately.

They don’t know what you’ve been praying about.

They don’t know the things God has been teaching you in the quiet.

They only see the decision.

They don’t see the process that produced it.

And because they don’t see the process, they may misunderstand the outcome.

You may be in a season where God is asking you to release something that looks valuable.

A relationship. An opportunity. A habit. A plan. A version of yourself. A timeline you thought you would follow.

And from the outside, it may look like you’re throwing something good away.

But what if God knows something you don’t?

What if what looks like loss is actually gain?

What if what looks like delay is preparation?

What if what looks like foolishness is faith?

The woman with the alabaster box didn’t stop to convince everyone in the room that what she was doing made sense.

She simply poured it out. And maybe that’s something we need to learn.

You don’t have to explain every act of obedience to everyone who questions it.

There is a particular exhaustion that comes from constantly trying to make people understand what God is doing in your life.

Sometimes we want everyone to validate our decisions before we feel confident enough to make them.

We want them to see what we see.

We want them to understand why we had to leave.

Why we had to wait.

Why we couldn’t continue.

Why we said no.

Why we chose the slower road.

Why we are building something quietly.

Why we are pursuing God differently now.

But not everyone will understand.

And that’s not necessarily a sign that you’ve made the wrong decision.

Sometimes it is simply a reminder that they were not in the room when God spoke to you.

You were. And that matters.

Of course, this doesn’t mean every strange decision is automatically God’s will.

We still have to test what we hear against Scripture. We still need wisdom. We still need godly counsel. We still need humility enough to admit when we could be wrong.

But once you’ve prayed, sought God, searched His Word, and become convinced that He is leading you somewhere, you cannot spend your entire life paralysed by the possibility that someone else may not understand.

Because if you’re always waiting for everyone to approve your obedience, you may never obey.

Think about Noah.

Imagine explaining to everyone around you that you’re building an ark when there isn’t a flood in sight.

Think about Abraham leaving his country without knowing exactly where he was going.

Think about Mary saying yes to something that would radically alter her life.

Think about the disciples leaving their nets to follow Jesus.

Faith has never required that everyone around you understand before you move.

Sometimes, God gives you enough light for the next step, not enough explanation for everyone watching.

So maybe you’re standing in a season you cannot fully explain…

You know you’re changing, but you don’t know exactly who you’re becoming yet.

You know something is shifting, but you can’t articulate what it is.

You know God is asking you to release something, but you don’t yet know what He is replacing it with.

You know you can’t keep living the way you’ve been living, even though you don’t have the entire picture of what comes next.

And maybe you’re tempted to panic because you don’t have the language to explain it.

But you don’t need to.

You can simply keep walking with Him.

The woman with the alabaster box didn’t know that Jesus would say her act would be remembered wherever the gospel was preached.

She was simply responding to Jesus in that moment.

She couldn’t see the reach her obedience would eventually have.

And I think that’s the part that moves me most.

She didn’t know her private act of worship would become a public testimony.

She didn’t know people would still be talking about her thousands of years later.

She just knew Jesus was there. And that was enough.

Maybe your obedience is like that too right now.

Maybe what you’re doing right now seems small.

Maybe nobody understands it.

Maybe nobody is applauding it.

Maybe some people are even criticizing it.

But God sees. He sees the prayers nobody hears.

The sacrifices nobody notices.

The boundaries nobody understands.

The tears nobody knows you cried.

The things you walked away from because you wanted to honour Him.

The yes that cost you something.

The no that protected what He was building in you.

The quiet seasons.

The hidden preparation.

The decisions that don’t look impressive from the outside.

God sees the heart behind the pouring.

So, if you’re in a season where people don’t quite understand you, don’t rush to assume that you’ve lost your way.

Pause. Pray. Check your heart. Check your motives. Return to Scripture. Seek wise counsel.

And if you know that you’re walking faithfully with God, permit yourself to stop needing everyone to understand.

You are not called to make your obedience make sense to everybody.

You are called to follow Jesus.

And sometimes, following Him will mean pouring out something that other people think you should have kept.

Sometimes it will mean choosing what looks “foolish.”

Sometimes it will mean taking the road that makes less sense on paper.

Sometimes it will mean trusting God with something precious before you know what He will do with it.

And when that happens, remember the alabaster box.

They called it waste but Jesus called it beautiful.

So keep walking. Keep surrendering. Keep obeying.

Let God be the One who interprets your obedience.

Because one day, you may look back at the very thing everyone questioned and say,

“God was doing something in me that they simply couldn’t see yet, and I’m glad I heeded.”

With love,

The Girl Journeying w/ Jesus