OCTOBER 16-17 – God Leads

“He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3b NIV)

Many times in our lives we are faced with making a decision about a major issue: “Should I hold on, or should I let go?” “Should I get in, or should I get out?” “Should I get married?” “Should I find a new job?” “Should I move?” Often we’re afraid of making the wrong decision, and that creates stress.

When we can’t make up our minds, we stagger through life. The Bible says that when we remain double-minded, we become unstable in everything we do (James 1). The Greek word for unstable literally means “stagger like a drunk.”

But God gives us an antidote to our indecision. Psalm 23:3 tells us, “He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake” (NIV). We handle the stress of decision-making by letting God guide us.

You may be thinking, “But I’ve tried that!” You had asked God to guide you, but then you became more confused than before. You still couldn’t figure it out. Now, with hindsight, you wonder, “Why is knowing God’s will so difficult?”

Does God play games with us? Of course not! God wants to guide us. He wants us to know his will more than we want to know it. Our problem is we often look for the wrong thing when we’re trying to find God’s will.

Problem is, we depend on our feelings. We want to be swept off our feet by some deep emotion so we can say, “That’s how I know what God’s will is!” Some of us want a methodical approach to God’s will. We want somebody to give us a recipe we can follow, or a formula we can apply. Some of us take a miracle approach to God’s will. We look for God to give us some fantastic sign—write it in the sky, call us on the phone, send us a telegram.

All of these ways lead to frustration and cause us to miss God’s will. His will is not a feeling or a formula or something he wants us to be frustrated or fearful about.

God does not want us confused, and he does not want us stressed over making any decision. He is there, guiding us every step of the way.

“Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. 21Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left...” Isaiah 30:20-21

“God Leads us Along” - Bill and Gloria Gaither present our music for today. Click on the picture to listen.