“Your ears shall hear a word . . saying ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” Isaiah 30:21 NKJV
Without God to guide you, you will inevitably get lost.
My thoughts and comments today are that “lost happens.”
On a trip celebrating our recent anniversary, Gayle and I just returned from a few days on the Northeastern seaboard in Boston, Gloucester, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. Getting from the Boston Airport to our hotel in an outlying suburb proved challenging. We had directions but the area was totally unfamiliar to us. We had a hotel reservation, an address, and a rental car – and Boston’s evening rush hour traffic. Oh yes, did I mention we had a map and GPS, thankfully? There were a few inevitable ‘turn around and go back” moments. My wrong turns made the drive more tense and took more time than would have been needed. I remember the sense of relief arriving safely at our “home away from home” for a few days.
Then we decided to have dinner in Gloucester, a charming seaside village north of Boston, most known for the Atlantic-fishing Gloucester men (and the George Clooney movie, “Perfect Storm”). Need I mention I missed turns as well as made wrong turns on our trip back after dark? There weren’t many turns, but I went north when I should have gone south or east when I should have gone west – wandering and wondering if I would find our hotel again in the unfamiliar countryside? There were more adventures, but I will leave those for another time. My wife’s careful navigation and that reassuring voice on the GPS brought us safely home, eventually.
This is not a travelogue; there is a point and application I will make. We would have been so lost without reliable directions from the welcome voice on our GPS. The GPS knew the directions we needed; we knew we needed those directions. Life is much like that. You will find yourself needing accurate directions. You can assume that you know how to do what you need to do and how to get where you need to go. And sometimes you will; but sometimes you won’t. And you can confuse those times that you are and you are not, wasting a lot of time and effort needlessly.
The prophet Isaiah was a voice to a nation that had lost their way, preparing them for confusing times that lay ahead for them. God reassuringly spoke through the prophet a promise that is still true today for you, “Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21 NKJV. Without God to guide you, you will inevitably get lost. You won’t mean to be lost; lost just happens.
How does God direct your life? The Bible is God’s inspired and anointed Word teaching you how life is to be lived with certainty, peace, and joy. Its wisdom is unequalled; its truth abiding; its directions reliable. Read it daily; study it devotionally; follow it diligently; rely on it constantly. The Psalmist wrote, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105 NIV. The very words describe a journey. Read Psalm 19:7-11 NKJV.
God has given His Holy Spirit to live within you to instruct and direct you. The Bible says, “The Spirit of truth . . dwells with you and will be in you . . When He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you in all truth.” John 14:17/16:13 NKJV. When the Spirit of God is directing you, there is peace and confidence. He will always instruct you in the ways of God and direct you in the right paths.
My prayer for you today is that you know where you are going and who you are following.