A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way? ~Proverbs 20:24
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. ~Proverbs 3:5-6
I Took you from the ends of the earth, from its furthest corners I called you. I said, “You are my servant!” I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. For I am the Lord, your god, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear. I will help you.” ~Isaiah 41:10-&-13
I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 1:5-6
When you were young, maybe at camp or as part of a youth group activity, did you ever do a trust walk? In a trust walk one partner is blindfolded and the other serves as guide. Then, the guide has to lead the blindfolded partner around an obstacle course, attempting to stay free and clear of the obstacles, or successfully navigate them, for both partners. The sighted partner has to think for two, and give clear instructions, “Left. Right. Step up. Step down.” But sometimes silence is part of the game! The blindfolded partner has to trust the guide and try not to either go their own way or succumb to the temptation to take the blindfold off. The lesson, of course, is a tangible example of what it is like for us to trust in God’s leading.
When I was born in New York, no one could have guessed that I would live in Michigan, Illinois and Maine. It was probably assumed that I would grow up in New York because that is where my roots are. It was assumed that I would go to school, but it probably would have been a surprise to be told that my first major would be in forestry engineering. Why would a city boy want to study forestry? Our lives are full of twists and turns, surprises and challenges, all as a part of God’s plans for us.
Why would He create a plan? Why not just let me be born, live my life, have my interests, entertainments and hobbies and then just let me go? Why isn’t it enough to just live a life and be done with it? There are many who see life that way: a purposeless drift with no real point to it. If life is lost or ends early, it’s no big deal because there’s no real point to existence anyway. It is only in Christianity that we are given an understanding of how purposeful our lives are.
We do not live just pointless lives, but all are interconnected and woven into part of a tapestry, part of a story that God is telling, full of meaning and love, tragedy and blessing. When it is finally finished, it will be the best nonfiction story ever written! It’s just that we lose sight of the plot in our daily lives and have to be reminded from time to time so that we don’t lose hope along the way.
“A person’s steps are directed by the Lord.” Just as a character in a story can’t just leave the book, we too, as part of God’s story, are directed and led through the maze of our chapters. We see this clearly in His message to Isaiah in which God says that He has called him from the ends of the earth and directed Isaiah’s steps. He gave a similar message to Jeremiah at the beginning of his ministry. But God could say the same to all of us. We were designed for a purpose, a character to fit into His story, at just this point, for His purpose, to further the story of His love.
“How then can anyone understand his own way?” We may not understand. In truth, we may not have planned for the complications of twists and turns that our path has for us. But Solomon tells us not to lean on our understanding, but to trust in the Lord anyway. We are to trust that His purposes will succeed, that we will fulfill the purpose for which we were created.
When you read a novel, there may be small characters, but there are no insignificant ones. Every character has a reason for appearing in the story and we are no different in God’s story. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” You are here for such a time as this. You bring out something in God’s story that He couldn’t tell as well without you.
It is so wonderful to know that we were purposely planned for, that we have meaning and a reason for appearing as we do when we do. For now, it does not make sense to the rest of the world who misses the whole meaning behind our existence, but imagine this, what if they start reading God’s story through you? What if they begin to understand His love, and the fact that their lives have meaning, through your character development, your part in the plot of God’s love?
Wouldn’t all the mystery of our purpose be worth it to know that we were the entry point for another on the road to understanding purpose? Let’s pray for that, that our lives will be lived in such a way that those who don’t know will become curious to read the story for themselves and come to know that they have purpose too.
Prayer: Father God, author and finisher of my faith, I do trust You. My prayer is to walk it out faithfully and let my character develop into something more like Yours and be used to lead others to You too. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: He Who Began a Good Work in You
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