Reading God’s Truth is imperative if we want to start our year off on the right foot. How we set our course to start determines the direction of the year. We prepare, make our best game plan and work to implement our strategy to stay the course in Christ.
We can be enthusiastic in our faith, ready to take on the world and ignite it for Jesus. But sometimes, we can get bogged down at the starting line, or well on our journey but find ourselves veering off the road.
In a world with thousands of paths to choose, how do we know where to go? And what if we’ve lost our way, or feel like we don’t even know where to begin? Where do we go when we can’t fully see the road before us?
Here’s where we look: God’s Word. It provides a solid road map for our journey and is a guiding point in places we aren’t sure how to navigate. He who has mapped out the end from the beginning sees all things and is quick to give wisdom when you ask for it. When you don’t know where to begin, simply begin with knowing God is with you.
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
What about when you’ve lost your way? When the road has disappeared and you find yourself faced with a compromising situation, or an aching feeling of loneliness for being the only one on your team who follows God? How does God’s Word reach those uncharted corners?
“Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” (Jeremiah 33:3)
A big piece of trusting God with all our heart is to hand our timeline over to Him. God is eager to hear from you, and eager to answer. When you step towards Him with your unknowns and confusion, He steps towards you and delights in clearing a way for you to walk through even the toughest of circumstances. And He promises to never leave you.
When we give our unknowns to God, He always makes a way and walks with us through the wilderness, through wide-open spaces, and narrow pathways that wind and twist unseen. There are a few things to remember as we give our road map to Him and exchange it for His own.
We can’t count on our own understanding; we have a limited, human perspective.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
He asks us to trust Him with a child-like faith. This is a faith that says even through we can’t see what’s coming, we believe God has the best in store and will walk with us down the road as He reveals one small step, and then another.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
A big piece of trusting God with all our heart is to hand our timeline over to Him. It’s not easy living in the waiting when we want to know God’s answer to our situation. God is faithful to respond, but it’s in His own timeframe. His timing is often not what we think, but when we open our heart to discern His voice, we’ll experience His perfect peace and presence, exactly when we’re meant to.
God makes a way. His Word is a road map that gives us guidance, direction, and alternate routes to get back on the road when we’ve swerved off the main highway. And sometimes, He presents us with detours to take us on a more scenic route that brings a more personal time together.
Let Him walk with you through whatever path you’ve found yourself on. He knows the way, and that way is good.
Want to learn more about reading the Bible and getting into God’s Word? Head to FCA in Action and read our January anchor article, Imperative: Read The Truth.
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