Asking for directions to a straight path

I’m terrible with directions. I admit it. I can’t tell north, east, south or west without a compass. I mean, I know which direction I’m facing when I’m at home, some of the time. But I can’t remember what way roads run, and I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head which direction I’m going. As far as I’m concerned, the hood of the car always points north. I even have trouble with left and right sometimes.

 

Yet, even in my admitted weaknesses, I refuse to ask for directions. I hate asking for help in Wal-mart or Dillons while I’m shopping. I hate asking for directions to a place I’ve never been before; I’d much rather Google it or look it up on MapQuest.

 

So as a result, I often end up taking circuitous routes that take longer and use more gas to reach. And much of that could have been avoided if I had just swallowed my pride and asked someone how to get there.

 

It’s the same with life. If we don’t ask for directions on how to live, we get all confused and turned around. If we rely on our own strength and power to understand how life works, we’ll just end up depressed because the moment we think we understand, something will change. And we’ll discover that we don’t understand anything. And there’s nothing like having the rug pulled out from under you when you aren’t expecting it.

Tracks through a wheat field – Haven, KS

Today’s verse is Proverbs 3:5-6, my life verse.

 

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
      do not depend on your own understanding.
 ⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
      and he will show you which path to take.

 

There’s another translation of this passage that says, “In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

 

That sounds pretty good to me. I don’t know about you, but when it comes to my crazy, busy, sometimes out-of-control life, I could use some straight paths.

 

Okay? So how do we find a straight path? Well, in a manner of speaking, you have to ask directions how to get there. If we want God to reveal and direct and “make plain” the straight path, we have to seek His will, according to this passage. And not just in a few things, we have to seek His will in everything we do. Not just Sunday. Not just at church. Not just at home. Every moment of every day needs to be devoted to seeking His will.

 

Well, what is His will? I talked about this yesterday and many other times: we can’t know God’s will for our lives because it’s too big for us, but we can know His will for us today. And today, He wants us to trust what He says in His Word.

 

Trust what God says. Don’t rely on your own interpretation of events. Read the Bible. Know the Bible. After all, it’s a roadmap to life. God gave it to us so we wouldn’t get lost and confused and depressed as we live our hectic lives on this crazy ball of dirt.

 

I’m bad at this because I want to trust my own judgment and my own sense of direction when it comes to living. I want to make sense of life so I can control it. Well, life doesn’t work that way. Life is too big for me. But it’s not too big for God, and if I want to find my place in life, I have to ask God to show me where I fit in.

 

Seeking God’s will to me is more like seeking His heart. Once you understand God’s heart, living His will is a lot easier. And if you ask Him and read the Bible, truly seeking to know what He asks from us, pretty soon your paths will start to straighten out. And even if they look curvy and treacherous to other people, God will straighten them out for you. Because that’s what He does.