The Lord Directs Our Path

            God loves you and He has a wonderful plan for your life. He desires to reveal this plan to you, but it is not automatic, we have a part in finding His plan. Proverbs 3:5 & 6 says “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” It’s easy to trust in the Lord when everything is going smooth and “life is good”. But how about when things are not so good? That’s when we need to put our trust in the Lord.

            Verse five continues “and lean not to your own understanding”.  Proverbs 16:25 says “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Natural man and natural thinking can come up with a plan, but we need to see if our plan lines up with God’s plan. How do we do that? By seeing if it is in agreement with God’s word.

            Proverbs 3:6 continues “in all your ways acknowledge Him”. Not just “some of our ways”, but all of our ways acknowledge the Lord and His working in our life. If we will do these things, He will direct our path.

            There are several passages of scripture that speak of God directing His people. Psalm 23:3 says “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His names sake.” And Proverbs 4:18 “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining ever brighter to the fullness of day.” God’s path is a path of righteousness, a path of light, having nothing to do with the works of darkness.

            And God’s path is a path of peace. Colossians 3:15 says to “let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” Romans 5:1 says “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We can experience the peace of God when we surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But that’s just the beginning. God’s peace will lead us everyday. We can know either by the presence of God’s peace, or the absence of His peace whether or not we are on a path that is pleasing to Him.

            And finally, get to know the Holy Spirit’s leading. Take time to pray and to listen for His instruction. As it says in Psalm 46:10 “be still and know that I am God.” In this very busy world that we live in, let’s take time to know His voice, to listen for His voice. If we have to, even make an appointment on our calendar for spending time to be still before our Lord. If we do, He will direct us, He will show us His way. And with confidence we can say “thank you Lord for directing my path”.