Content with God’s Path for my Life
Do you want God’s path for your life, or God’s blessing for YOUR path?
Verse for Today
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Today’s devotional
What if there was a clearly marked path that lead to the most beautiful waterfall a human could ever see? Would you take that path? I would. But sometimes that path seems not-so-clearly marked.
When we were in Grenada, there was a waterfall that was supposedly pretty great, and it was not too far from the house we were renting. We drove up there one day, missed the sign, and drove pretty far out of the way. When we we finally found it, there were some sketchy looking guys there who wanted money to guide us and they also wanted to wash our car while we explored. So we bailed.
A few days later, we did some research about the waterfall. There was an entrance fee because the access to the trail was on private property. It was suggested that we pay a very small fee for a guide to walk us to the falls.
We also brought in reinforcements. My brother and sister-in-law had joined our trip. Doing new and slightly scary things is always better with company. So we paid the entrance fee, paid the guide, and went on a muddy, sloppy, not-clearly-marked walk with a guy named Andy. Andy showed us some cool things during the hike about the local plants and landscape. Then… we got to experience one of the most beautiful parts of God’s created earth that I have ever witnessed. It was worthy every penny.
So what does this have to do with today’s verse? I believe God really does have a path for us on this earth that leads to an abundant life, knowing the joy of God’s presence and that it will lead to a perfect eternity after I die. I believe that God has laid out this path, but that the “signs” for where to go don’t look the way I expected. Sometimes this path seems scary and uncertain. Sometimes the “signs” for where to go and how to get there don’t seem clear to me at all. Sometimes I forget that discomfort is part of the process.
And sometimes I over complicate the whole thing. Sometimes I make wrong turns. But if I really do want the abundant life that God has available to me, I probably need to do some research about what that actually means and entails. I need to be willing to enlist the help of others who have already walked further down this path than I have. I need to have people with me who are searching for the same things. I need to know that the process of getting to God’s abundance is probably going to be messy. I need to have people around me who can point out the beauty even in the messy parts. Then, I need to rejoice. For every step of progress, I need to praise. I need to recognize that everything I am experiencing is part of God’s plan. When I have a moment of abundance, I need to bask in it, praising the God who made it possible.
Or…. I could rationalize and tell myself that the difficulty and obstacles are signs that God wants me to go a different way. I could look at where my feet are already heading and ask for God to bless the plan I have in mind. Which, if I’m guessing, doesn’t lead to the kind of beauty that God wanted to show me.
Contentment will come on God’s chosen path for my life. Contentment will not likely be found anywhere else.
Today’s Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today:
How are you following the path of life that God has laid out for you?
How have you tried to get God to bless your chosen path?
How are you joyful about God’s presence with you in this exact moment?
Who can you ask to be your “guide” to get further down this path?
Who are you walking with?
How can you rejoice today for exactly where you are?