Wavering

You know that back-and-forth feeling — where one moment you’re confident in your decision, and the next you’re questioning everything?

It’s like standing in line at a restaurant and changing your order three times before you get to the front.

James 1:6 (NLT) — “But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.”

Spiritually, wavering has bigger consequences. James compares it to a wave tossed around by the wind — never steady, always shifting.

God calls us to something different: a life rooted in trust, anchored in His promises, and steady even when the winds blow.

The truth is, we all waver at times — in decisions, in faith, in trust. But the good news is, God is faithful, and He steadies us when we lean on Him. So today, we’re going to dig into what wavering looks like in our everyday lives, why it happens, and how we can build steadiness in our faith.

Let’s start with the small ways wavering shows up in our lives — because it’s often the little hesitations that grow into bigger struggles.

Life is full of choices, and too many options can make us waver. But God offers wisdom when we ask.

Pray for clarity over one specific decision today instead of juggling all of them at once.

Wavering also happens when distractions pull us from what matters most.

Name your top 3 priorities and let those anchor your focus.

What are you most indecisive about right now, and with that overwhelming decision, what distraction is pulling you off course? Let’s allow God to guide us and help us clearly and intentionally make the decisions that we need to make.

Emotions are powerful, but if they lead our decisions, we’ll be tossed around. Steadiness comes when truth anchors us.

When emotions rise, pause and ask: Is this feeling guiding me toward faith or fear?

When I watch my 13-year-old daughter try to decide what she wants to spend her money on, I watch a very emotional, indecisive girl. She knows what she wants, but once we get to the store, she starts to feel overwhelmed and overstimulated because she knows she only has a certain amount of money and so she has to make some decisions. More often than not, she has put everything down, feeling depleted, and bought nothing.

We do this all-or-nothing stuff sometimes because the decisions can just be too hard and overwhelming.

How often do your emotions change your focus or decisions?

Finding faith in small things is where we can start to set our roots and grow from there.

Oftentimes we need reminders, so when you are looking back, grasp onto what God has done for you, and let’s build trust in God with small daily choices and let those strengthen our ability to stay steady in big ones.

Choose one small area to trust God with today — and stick to it without wavering.

What’s one small decision you can steady by trusting God today?

Here’s the thing about wavering — it doesn’t usually come from laziness. It often comes from fear, doubt, or wanting to please everyone at once. And the truth is, you can’t move forward in two directions at the same time.

James 1:6 (NLT) — “But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.”

Fear often fuels wavering: fear of failure, fear of people’s opinions, fear of the unknown.

Throughout my younger years, there was so much I didn’t do because of this. Though I am better at doing things now, I do still find myself from time to time battling these fearful thoughts.

The best way to keep us grounded is to confront fear with Scripture — write down one verse that reminds you of God’s faithfulness and remember it.

On the other end of this spectrum is decision fatigue. Constant decision-making drains us. The more tired we are, the more we waver. We just decide quickly and then later question it all because we weren’t sure if we did the right thing.

Simplify your life — eliminate one unnecessary choice today to free your mental space.

Have you had a fear that has caused you to waver lately, or have you just been making so many decisions that you just can’t anymore? Turn to God and allow Him to strengthen you and also help you simplify things.

When we feel like life is just crazy around us, we can find stability through prayer.

Prayer steadies our hearts when our minds are swirling. So, before making a choice, pause and pray for even 30 seconds and reset your thoughts on God.

When has prayer brought peace to an uncertain situation?

Something else that is helpful is to surround ourselves with steady people. Who you talk to can and will affect your steadiness. We need others who will be faith-filled voices that will help calm our wavering.

If you know someone who is a steady person in your life, reach out to them and ask them to pray with you.

By now, we’ve seen how wavering shows up in small decisions, in fear, and in distractions. But let’s shift gears — steadiness is possible. God doesn’t expect us to never doubt, but He does invite us to anchor ourselves in Him, who never changes.

James 1:6 (NLT) — “But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.”

Let’s jump in and talk about anchoring ourselves in truth, steadiness, and knowing that there will always be forward progress when we are seeking the Lord, no matter how life feels.

The best way to stop wavering is to know what’s true and hold onto it.

We need to be anchored in God’s truth so that we can combat anything that comes our way, and we do that by staying in God’s Word and knowing that what He says is true.

Memorize one scripture this week that will help you keep your focus steady and on the Lord.

Building daily habits of faith and trust in the Lord keeps us steady.

What is one daily habit that you have that anchors you in truth and steadies you in a wavering moment?

God wants us to run the race with endurance, keeping our eyes on Him.

At the end of each day, thank God for one area where He helped you stay steady.

Wavering may seem bad, but it just means that you are taking one more step of trust today than you did yesterday.

Celebrate even small moments when you choose faith over doubt.

Let’s remember this: wavering is part of being human. We all wrestle with doubts, second-guessing, and indecision. But God hasn’t called us to live like waves, tossed around by every shift of the wind. He’s called us to stand firm, rooted in His promises, anchored in His truth.

When you feel that pull to waver this week, pause and remember: God’s character does not change. His Word does not change. His love for you does not change.

You don’t have to live like the wind — you can live steady like the Rock who holds you.

Faith steadies what fear tries to shake.