God Promises to Show You the Way
Do you need guidance and direction?
Verse of the Day
‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.’
Today’s Devotional
We often don’t realize that our own understanding can be faulty. I read a story written by Eugene Peterson that makes this very clear:
“A few years ago I was in my backyard with my lawnmower tipped on its side. I was trying to get the blade off so I could sharpen it. I had my biggest wrench attached to the nut but couldn’t budge it. I got a four-foot length of pipe and slipped it over the wrench handle to give me leverage, and I leaned on that- still unsuccessfully. Next I took a large rock and banged it on the pipe. By this time I was beginning to get emotionally involved with my lawnmower.
Then my neighbor walked over and said that he had a lawnmower like mine once and that, if he remembered correctly, the threads on the bolt went the other way. I reversed my exertions and, sure enough, the nut turned easily.”
Later in the story he said, “I would never have gotten the job done, no matter how hard I tried, doing it my way.”
I can’t count the number of times my understanding of something was not helping me. In fact, just like in Eugene’s story, sometimes “my way” is wrong and will simply never get me to where I want to go.
Knowing how flawed my own understanding can be, I am desperate for God’s help and guidance. Today’s verses give us three conditions that need to be met in order for God’s promised guidance to become available.
First, we must trust with all our heart. This means that we must actively choose to refuse the thoughts of worry, doubt, and fear that are screaming in our heads. I had a situation recently where my brain was out of control with worry and fear. I decided, in that moment, to proclaim (out loud) that I trust God and I refused the worry and fear. I felt silly and a little embarrassed, even though I was alone. But I had a choice to make at that moment. I could roll around with the fear and worry, thus giving it more power. Or I could refuse it and declare my trust in God despite my warring emotions. The Bible doesn’t say this will be easy or make sense in the moment. The Bible simply tells us what to do. We must choose to trust. And in my experience that is an active, intentional choice.
Next, we are told not to depend on our own understanding. This one is more challenging, because how do we not listen to our own brain? I can only tell you my experience with this. It requires time in the Word, and silence. It requires authenticity with other people I trust, and allowing them to speak hard truth to me. It requires humility and open mindedness, because my initial inclination is often rooted in pride. Or selfishness. Or brokenness. Or concern over what others might be thinking. It requires the knowledge that my own understanding is flawed. And I need God and other believers to help me see the fallacy of my own understanding. And it requires obedience to choose not to follow my flawed understanding. Using Eugene’s story as our example, he could have easily said, “Why in the world would the threads go in the opposite direction of the universally accepted righty-tighy, lefty-loosy? That’s ridiculous.” Instead, he choose to be open-minded enough to give it a try.
Lastly, we are told to seek God’s will in everything we do. We are not told to generally seek God’s will. We are told to seek God’s will in everything, which includes the minutiae. It includes our words. It includes our actions. It includes our intentions. It even includes our emotions. We need to be inviting God into absolutely everything. And that requires practice.
Once we are doing these things, or at least trying to do them the best we can, God promises us that He will show us which path to take. In my life, God usually only shows me the very next step I need to take, not the entire journey in front of me. If we bring in Psalm 119:105, we see that God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. If you were out on a dark trail at night, and you were holding a lantern, would you be able to see the path all the way back home? Not likely. You would only be able to see a few steps in front of you. I believe that is how God guides us. A step or two at a time. I believe He does this because then each step requires us to trust that he is leading us well.
As God is showing me my next step to take, I find that sometimes it’s hard for me to move my feet until my toes have been stepped on.
God promises to give you His guidance, but it requires trust. And setting down your own ideas. And seeking His will in everything you do. Or we could just keep doing things our own way. We always have a choice.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How can you actively and intentionally trust in God today?
How has your own understanding led you astray in the past?
How can you lean on God’s understanding today?
Who can you invite into your journey that will help you?
How do you need to seek God’s will for your day today?
What guidance is God giving you today, and what step do you need to take?
Comments
So good. Thanks