Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:3-5 (NKJV)
God seldom shows us the whole path… just the next step. If He showed us the entire path or all the ‘workings out’ in our life, why would we need faith – why would we need to trust and obey Him? We would say, “I see… I will take if from here!” Our loving Heavenly Father usually shows us one step at a time – to keep us close to Him. We know not what lies ahead, but He does. Learning to wait on the Lord is a difficult thing to do. Trusting and obeying His leading is the only way to live a life without regret. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Only He knows the ‘what, where, how and when’ to guide us. When we leave it up to Him, we leave the outcome in His hands as well. This is truly walking by faith and not by sight. God is the only one who has true understanding of our lives because He is the all-knowing, all-seeing One – we are not! We are to choose life in what He puts before us. Life for the Believer comes through seeking, trusting and obeying Him; seeking Him first and foremost above all else, believing His word, then doing what He says or shows us to do in obedience – one step at a time to the best of our faith. Even if we miss it, we get to repent! God looks at our heart and puts us right back on the path He has for us.
On a recent trip down the Grand Canyon, I became so impressed with my mule. I was told to put all of my trust in the mule. Why? Because the mule had made the trip down that same trail hundreds of times before and he knew what he was doing. I was told to just sit back, look around and enjoy the ride. He did all the work and I did not once have to know where we were going! I trusted that he wasn’t going to fall over the side or get lost. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and took hundreds of pictures as we traveled.
That experience brought clarity to the way we are to trust the Lord. He really does know what He’s doing with our lives. He has a hope and a future for us, plans for good and not for evil (Jer. 29:11); and He is the only One who knows how to bring it about! He cares for us and loves us more than we can comprehend.
Father – not my will but Yours be done. Jesus – lead me every step of the way as my faithful Shepherd. Holy Spirit – think through me, love through me, live through me.
“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” 1 Thess. 5:24
