Directions Please

Directions Please

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:3, 4, & 23-24

You have to know where you are before you can get directions to where you are going. It's very frustraging to follow directions in an unfamiliar place. There are times in my faith I don't know where I am and for a while it feels like I'm lost looking in all directions for the right way to go. I have been moving along in my walk with Christ. He's right there with me, but suddenly there is a sense of loss, like "where do I go from here?"

Have you ever reached a pause in your faith, nothing really bad stopped you, you were moving right along doing what you knew to do, spending time with God, praying, reading your Bible filling your mind with the things of God, yet for some reason there is a crossroad maybe and you don't know if you should turn or go straight. Fear immediately tries to grab you with questions like; "Was I doing something wrong?" "Why is there is crossroad?" "Should I turn or keep moving straight?" Any wrong move and I'll be off the right course which could take a long time to get back on the right one.

Life is full of choices that can either keep us moving in the right direction, or move us in the wrong direction. Which way is right and which way is wrong? There are also choices that are neither right nor wrong. It can be hard to tell the difference. For me those crossroads or forkes in the road will appear when I've been moving along in my faith growing then something happens and I'm faced with a decision, either one is a good choice, it's not about right or wrong, it's just a choice with a significant outcome either way. Now what? Where do I go from here?

Faith walking is never easy, it takes a level of trust that we are never familiar with because the more we walk by faith, the more hidden the path seems to be. Just when we get used to the level of faith that got us this far we are faced with a decision that takes us to a whole other level. Where you and I came from is not where we are going. When we first believed we were young in our faith and we crawled away from that place of faith to the next place and soon we were walking, wobbly we may have been, but soon we got our footing and the way became smoother. However the further we walked the terrain began to change and the way was harder to follow, the path became narrow and obstacles littered the way.

The closer we get to God sometimes it seems the further He is away. There is a battle raging against us to keep us from God and His ways. Evil surrounds our path to keep us from the potential God created us for. The enemy will throw every distraction he can to make us fall or lose our way. Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him? ...How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although he gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teacher will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 3018-21

Sometimes all it takes to make the right choice at the moment is just standing firm in your faith. Just be still. Let God be God. Let Him lead you in the paths of righteousness, He will always give directions in the way that you should go. When you are faced with a choice that has no right or wrong way that is the next level of faith He is trying to lead you through. Follow Him wherever He leads and you will never go in the wrong direction when He goes before and behind you. The path may appear to be rough and rocky, but trust Him, He will make them straight and smooth with every step you take by faith, not by sight. What you can see is deceiving, what you look for in faith will never mislead you.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge HIM, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6