The Journey is Anything but Smooth

Following God’s perfect plan for your life isn’t always a smooth journey. Yes, among other good things there will be overflowing joy (Psalm 4:7) and fullness of life (John 10:10). But there will also be tall mountains to climb, deep valleys to ride through, narrow rickety bridges high above the ground to cross, storms that will “rain on your parade,” hot dry deserts that will leave you parched, and raging rivers ready to drown you. Sometimes you will need to zipline through the trees.

You will likely have more questions than answers. God often works in ways that just do not make sense. He asked Isaiah to walk naked for three years (Isaiah 20:1-3). Instead of quickly and decisively attacking Jericho, God told Joshua and the Israelites to walk around the city for a week (Joshua 6:1-4). In Genesis, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers (37:26-28) and later on, imprisoned by Potiphar on trumped up charges (39:1-20).

You will be asked to run when you just want to walk. There will be rest stops when you really don’t want to rest and detours that seem out of the way. And there will be times when you want to sing “Thanks for the advice, but I’ll do it my way.”

We find these words in Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way” (GNT).

So, today I ask you – Do you trust God enough to follow His plan, His path, in every situation, even when it doesn’t make sense or looks too difficult? God promises to be with you in every situation, in every decision, at every fork in the road, on every narrow bridge. The name given to Jesus – Immanuel – means “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23, which fulfills prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14)

Ask God today for the gift of ever-increasing faith so He can put new lyrics in your heart; lyrics that sing, “God, I’ll do it Your way!”