When we look back over the years of our lives we can see so much more, now, than we ever could when we walked forward step by step. Forward is a process, a steady one, and too often we grow tired and frustrated because we want to be there already. But where is there?
Right before Jesus’ death, one of his closest friends, caught in perplexity, posed one of the most asked questions in mankind’s history “How can we know the way”? Our phones have GPS apps, prior to that we purchased maps, compasses, and generations ago we relied on the stars to help us answer Thomas’ question.
Everyone everywhere is looking for a way or a path, to follow.
We were created to desire, a yearning embedded within us, that pulls forward, even when we’re afraid to go there. Step by step, when we realize, like Peter, we’re walking on unfamiliar territory, we get scared and doubt and ask ourselves “am I going to the right way”?
Do you know where you’re going? Maybe this morning, you’re going to work, to school, to the gym, to the store…but think deeper. Do you know where you’re going in your faith, in your relationships, and on your life’s journey? If you do know, how will you know when you get there? What is the marker of your arrival?
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”
Psalm 32:8
I’ve learned to pay attention to the scenery as I journey with God. A few months of intense hustle look a lot different than a season of rest and rejuvenation. When God initiates forgiveness in a relationship to heal a deep emotional fracture, a sermon on a Sunday, a random question by one of my students, or a Bible verse I continue to see online generally reminds me of the ways God will prompt us to get moving in a specific direction. I’ve only known which route to take because every day I’m asking God for guidance and every day He provides it.
When God says He will teach us the way we should go, He means it, but when we, out of fear or frustration, try to create an alternate route, we risk walking alone and missing out on the blessings God had waiting ahead. If you’re wondering which way to go, have you asked God to reveal the best direction to you? Are you willing to go His way or are you
I know we’re on a journey that will always have me ask “are we there yet” and God’s Spirit will whisper back to me “no, child, not yet”. We’re never really there until we reach heaven. Until then, we like Paul, press on towards the goal (Philippians 3:14).
The only way to truly know which way to go, which route to take, and what decision is best is to follow the promptings and Word of God. He will guide us every step of the way. His light will shine upon our feet as we walk in daily obedience while it shines on the whole journey ahead.
And a light to my path.”
Psalm 119:105