Right Turn Ahead

Isaiah 55:8-9 - "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord.  "And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.  For just as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."

God knows better than us.  It really is that simple.  His thoughts are pure, righteous, and holy.  And His ways are pure, righteous, and holy.  Ours...leave a lot to be desired sometimes...

You mean I'm not always right?!  That's a bitter pill to swallow for a perfectionist like me.  I'm supposed to be right all the time, and know the best course of action for me to take too.  I mean, that's the rule isn't it?

Well...not quite.  Fortunately for me, I'm not always right.  I have had to learn, albeit the hard way, to listen and trust God's prompting and His guidance.  I still have a tendency to tune a deaf ear to Him sometimes, but those situations have become fewer and farther between.

A friend of mine bought me a sign for my desk once that said, "To save some time: Let's just assume that I'm always right."  It was a running joke between me and her, and it fit my attitude well.  Still does, sometimes...

Doesn't it sometimes feel like when God is pointing us in a certain direction that doesn't make any sense to us, that we have a tendency to say, "That can't be right.  God wouldn't lead me that way."  He wouldn't?  How do we know?  His thoughts and ways are higher than anything we could imagine.  Just because our human instinct is telling us something, doesn't mean it knows better than God, or that our human instinct is always right.  I know that I've personally demonstrated more than a few times, that my human instinct sometimes just sucks.  It can be way off.

Ever walk down the road with someone, and they take an unexpected turn?  You stop and ask where are you going?  They say well this is the best way to go.  You disagree and say you're going to go a different way, because you trust your sense of direction better?  That's how it is with God.  He's walking with us all the time, and He makes a turn that we weren't expecting.  Do we listen and follow, or do we trust our own instinct and continue on our own path?

Sadly, more often than not, we continue on our own path.  We encounter bumps in the road, and get bruised and beat up some.  That doesn't mean that God didn't circle back and walk with us.  Of course He did.  He keeps us from doing more than stubbing our toes on the wrong path.  Later on, He makes it easier for us to be prepared.  He'll put bigger warning signs on the road to keep us following the path we are on that lead us away from what He has for us.  Sometimes those bigger signs are very obvious like "Right Turn Ahead" or "Don't Go This Way".  Do we follow then?  Hopefully we do, but a lot of times, we still don't.  We trust our own instinct more than His wisdom and guidance.

When we aren't trusting God and His perfect plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28), we are telling God that we're good on our own.  Or that we'll call Him when we need Him.  Nothing could break our Father's heart more than for us to tell Him that we don't really need Him.  But He still loves us, and will happily welcome us back with arms wide open and waiting.  When we confess and repent and ask for His forgiveness, He not only forgives but He also completely forgets.  He is excited to fulfill His promise in Jeremiah 33:3 that when we call to Him he WILL answer and tell us great and mighty things that we do not know.  God loves to fulfill His promises, and He always will when we seek Him first.

Dear Father, thank You.  Thank You for always being there to guide me and show me the right way to go.  I know I have a tendency to follow my own bumpy path sometimes, and for that I beg Your forgiveness.  I pray that I will seek Your guidance and wisdom so that I will remember to make the right turn ahead when You point it out to me.  I pray for those that aren't seeking Your guidance.  I pray for those that do the same thing I do, and have a tendency to believe that they know what's best for them.  My prayer is that they will see that following Your guidance is the best thing for them, and that You will fulfill Your promise in Jeremiah 29:11 to give them a future and a hope.  In Jesus' name, Amen!



God Bless!!!