God Will Show You
Do you need guidance and direction in your thinking?
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
This is the same passage we looked at yesterday, but today we take a slightly different perspective.
I had a conversation with a woman recently that was dumbfounding. She was really struggling with something and had been given advice, repeatedly, by a woman who had achieved victory in the same area where my friend was struggling. The advice-giving woman had shared with my friend exactly what she had done and the steps she took to achieve freedom in this area. My friend simply would not listen. She told me that she disagreed with this advice-giving woman about how to go about this. Do you see the absurdity in that? This is a great example of the folly of depending on our own understanding. It’s also a great example of how our understanding of things can really lead us astray.
We have discussed conditional promises before. 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 fear. 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.
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 includes our thoughts, and preferences, and opinions. We need to be inviting God into absolutely everything. And that requires practice.
Once we have done these things, 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, and that we trust Him for the parts of the journey that we cannot yet see.
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.
I heard a message this summer about why God gives us only a step at a time. It is a really powerful message, and it is worth the 8.5 minutes of your time that it will take to listen. The link is below today’s questions.
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. Perhaps if we train our thinking to continually align with God’s truth, then the steps we are supposed to take will not come with such a mental battle.
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?
VIDEO: Taking Next Steps