God Promises to Guide
Are you good at listening to and following instructions?
Verse of the Day
‘The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’
Today’s Devotional
A few years ago I ordered some furniture from an online seller. I ordered three identical filing cabinets that were actually pretty pieces of furniture for my home office. However, they arrived at my house unassembled. I avoided them for a while because I was intimidated at the thought of having to put them together. When I finally decided it was time, I opened the first box and found the instruction booklet. It was more like an instruction novel. There were many pages and many steps. So I set about putting the first one together. It took hours. But as I slowly worked through each step, I ended up with a finished product that looked nice and functioned exactly as it was created to. The second and third cabinets were assembled much faster, though I still used the instructions so that I did the steps in the correct order.
Why do I tell you that story?
Because God is promising us that he will guide us, step by step, along the path we need to be on for our lives. But we must follow the provided instructions. As we follow, He continues to guide. And not only do the instructions continue, the Maker watches over us as we follow the instructions.
If God is promising us that He is our Guide, our responsibility is to follow. God has given us an instruction manual, which includes the backstory and history, which is the Bible. He understands our nature, which means that we might read the Bible and not know how it pertains to our lives specifically. That’s why promises like the ones in today’s verse are so valuable. Because God is telling us that He will advise us. I believe that advice includes specific directions for my life today.
The problem (for me) arises when one of several things happen:
1- The suggested next step is one I don’t want to take.
2- The suggested next step seems unclear.
3- The suggested next step seems counterintuitive to what I think needs to be done.
4- The “but” feels more important than the suggested next step.
5- The outcome for any next steps seems uncertain.
I can think of specific examples of how I did not follow God as my promised guide because of each one of the excuses listed above. But I can also look at the evidence from when I did follow God’s lead despite having one (or more) of those excuses. Every time I have followed God’s guidance, things turned out better than they would have otherwise. And even with overwhelming evidence that God’s guidance is better than my own thinking, I still have to battle with myself sometimes to follow where I believe God is leading me.
God’s promise is that He will guide, advise, and keep watch over us. Our responsibility is to follow. And to do whatever we can to stay close to Him so that we can see where He is pointing us.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How has God guided you in the past?
How has God used other people as helpers along your path?
How has God’s guidance proved better than your own?
Which of the “problems” in following God’s guidance is the biggest obstacle for you today?
What next step is God inviting you to take today?