God Speaking

“in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:6)

Several years ago my husband and I planned a trip to take us from the West Coast of Canada, (where we live) to the East Coast of Canada and even across the water to Newfoundland. We were going to drive as we wanted to see as much of each Province as possible and as we were sharing these plans with our family one of our daughter’s asked, “Who is going to do the navigating?” When my husband replied, “Your mother”, there was a stunned silence and I thought I could detect some muffled laughter. Perhaps they were thinking “NAGIVATOR” might be the more appropriate word but, I was not surprised by their reaction as I am not noted for my navigational skills and can easily become confused in my own neighborhood, but knowing what a long and perhaps difficult journey this would be, I had every intention of using every available source from maps to directions, from travel books to even asking others who had attempted a similar trip what the problems might be.

Life is often described as a journey and those of us who have been travelling for some time know that the road is not always straight and easy to follow, that often a sharp bend takes us by surprise or the road we are just becoming familiar with has a detour sign and we are suddenly thrust into unknown territory that demands that we learn a whole new way of proceeding. Sometimes the road suddenly divides and we have the agonizing choice of which road to take and both seem to be leading to different locations.

Fortunately for us our Heavenly Father is quite aware that his children need his help to stay on track while we traverse that long journey of life. He has provided the perfect travel guide; his word.

One of the lessons my husband and I learnt on our trip was not to be too ambitious about how far we thought we could go in any given day. We found that by being too confident about distances, left us overtired and unable to appreciate the beauty of the countryside we had driven through. The same applies on our life journey. In our present day society, one of the main causes of illness has been related to stress. When we fill our lives with countless activities for ourselves and our children our path becomes rough and steep and we begin to feel we are not actually going anywhere, we seem to be on a treadmill rather than progressing through life and there seems to be no end in sight. Stress is spoiling our enjoyment of our journey. That is when we need to stop and consult the travel guide. The Lord entreats us to stop and spend some quiet time with him; he urges us to be refreshed by speaking to him and reading his word.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Our journey can also be thrown into confusion by that fork in the road. It may be a new job to be considered or moving to another part of the country; perhaps a chance to buy that long dreamed of home; or perhaps the Lord calling us to start that ministry close to our heart. How to decide! Once again we need to consult the travel guide.

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”” (Isaiah 30:21)

The Lord has not promised our path will always be smooth, but he has promised much more than that. He has promised to be our constant travelling companion,

“…for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

 

 

 

 

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