4 Signs God Is Saying, “You’re on the Right Path!”

Here are 4 signs that often mean God is saying, “You’re on the right path! Just keep going!”

1. You Are on the Right Path If You Are Getting the Results That Are Leading You Towards Your Goal, Even If This Process Is Taking Longer Than You Thought It Would

Many times we feel lost in life because we don’t know what we are aiming at. How can you know if you are going in the right direction if you don’t have an end destination in mind? You can have the GPS on as you drive and it will show you where you are on the map, but it will only tell you when you made a wrong turn once you have a specific destination locked in. It will only say, “You have reached your destination,” when you specifically decided where your intended destination was going to be. If you don’t pick a place to go, the GPS will just show you which road you are on. It won’t tell you if you are on the right road.

The same is true in life. If you don’t have goals that you are aiming at, you will never know whether you are on the right road or not. You will be able to know what road you are on, but if you don’t have an end goal in sight you won’t know if this is the right road.

For example, if you have a goal of being in a godly marriage one day, you will know you are on the right road if you are gaining results that will help you get into a godly marriage. If you want to have a successful career, you will know you are on the right road when you are gaining knowledge and experience that will help you reach that success in that particular career field. Most importantly, as Christians, our ultimate goal must be to bring God glory through loving him and loving people. You will know you are on the ultimate right path in life when you are gaining results that will lead you towards reaching this goal.

One issue that makes people doubt that they are on the right road even when they actually are on the right path is when the process of reaching their goal is taking longer than they expected. This is normal. Don’t assume you are on the wrong road just because it’s a long road. If the path you are on is helping you acquire the results you need to achieve your goal, that’s more important than how fast these results are coming.

Notice how Paul embraced the process that was needed to achieve his goal of pleasing the Lord. As Philippians 3:12-15 states:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way . . . .”

2. You Are on the Right Path If You Are Retaining the Truths You’ve Already Been Taught While Also Acquiring More Wisdom as Time Goes on

As we already read in Philippians 3:12-15, when we are on the right road, we will be getting closer and closer to the goals we have. But notice this little statement Paul adds on in the very next verse. Philippians 3:16 states, “Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

When you are on the wrong road, you will end up having to learn lessons you’ve already been taught. For example, the prodigal son in Luke 15 already walked down the road of lavish living and selfishness. Once he was humbled and got back on the right road which led him back to his father, he had learned the lesson that sin and quick pleasures are never worth the cost. But imagine if after living back with his father for a few years, he again began to drift back into those old bad habits that led him away from his father the first time. He would then know he was on the wrong road if he was having to relearn those lessons he had already learned in the past.

Likewise, if you are doing things you’ve already done in the past that turned out terribly, this means you are on the wrong road. Did you try to date an unbeliever in the past, hoping that you could convert them, but then you ended up sleeping with them and instead of you bringing them closer to God, they just took you further away from God? If you are now beginning to think you can try this again with a new unbeliever, you are on the wrong road. Did you get yourself into a mess with credit cards in the past but then you worked really hard to be debt free? If you find yourself having a balance on your credit card like you said you never would do again, you are on the wrong road because you are needing to learn old lessons again.

Like Paul said in Philippians 3:16, “Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” You will know you are on the right road when you are retaining the truths you’ve already learned.

3. You Are on the Right Path When God Is Giving You Divine Confirmation that Matches the Level of Importance of This Decision You Are Making

I’m a big believer in the principle that the bigger the decision, the more confirmation you should seek from God. When there is a small decision that doesn’t have a lot of consequence one way or the other, still pray about it – but you should not expect God to send you an abundance of confirmation.

For example, it’s not a huge decision to apply for a new job because you can always reject the opportunity if you do get the offer. So God may not give you a lot of confirmation if you are wondering if you should apply. But it is a bigger decision to actually switch jobs, so you should expect to get some bigger forms of confirmation. And it’s an even bigger decision if you need to relocate for this new job, so you should really get a lot of confirmation to make this choice. With said, switching jobs is not an earth-shattering decision of cosmic importance. So you shouldn’t expect God to send you a supernatural sign or vision about this decision.

Going on a date is an important choice, but deciding to date someone and enter into a committed dating relationship is a more important choice. And getting engaged and actually getting married is obviously way more important than any dating decisions. Thus you should expect more and more confirmation from God as the level of importance for each decision goes up.

If you want straight paths in life, make sure you rely not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge God as Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs. And on a practical level, remember that as the importance of the decision goes up, you should expect to see clearer and clearer evidence that God is confirming you are on the right path.

4. You Are on the Right Path If Your Earthly Decisions Are Eternally Motivated

I truly believe that the Bible lays out one grand vision for all Christians to follow. Big picture, we all were created to love God, to love people, and to do all this for God’s glory.

Our “what” as Christians is love. What should we do? Matthew 22:36-40 says we are to love God and love people. Our “why” as Christians is God’s glory. As 1 Corinthians 10:31 teaches us, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

But this big, overarching purpose for all Christians will be expressed through unique callings in each of our lives. All of us are called to love God, to love people, and to do all of this for his glory; but only some will be called to do this through a life of singleness. Others will be called to do this through getting married and raising a family. Some will be called to do this through pursuing a certain career while others may be called to be a stay-at-home mom who homeschools her children. And at other points, God will lead you to love him and love people for his glory by being involved in a particular ministry opportunity, and at a later point God may call you to do this through a different ministry opportunity than the one you had earlier in life.

The point is, the earthly decisions and callings will change and evolve over the course of each of our lives. All of our paths will look different from one another when we look at it all from an earthly perspective. But as Christians looking at it all from a heavenly perspective, our main goal must always be the same – to glorify God though our love for him and other people.

You will know you are on the right path when your earthly decisions are motivated by this eternal, heavenly commission.