Allowing God to Direct Your Steps

Good morning. I hope you had a great Christmas weekend.

2 Chronicles 27:6 (NASB)
So Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.

Traditionally for me, the week between Christmas and New Years Day is a time of reflection, a time of prayer, a time of course plotting and a time for setting goals. During this week, I spend a great deal of time alone with God, allowing Him to guide my thoughts.

It is during these times that the Lord shows me all that I have to be thankful for from the current year. He shows me places where He strengthened me, guided me and sustained me. He also uses this as a time to show me where I got off course and reminds me of how He guided me back to the right path.

From there I begin to seek the Lord’s heart for the coming year. This is a time of asking Him, what He would like to accomplish through me? I find that I often come away with major themes or points of emphasis for my life in the coming year. It is during these times that I clarify what the Lord is revealing to me, and I ask Him to determine the work of my hands. It is from this dialogue with the Lord that I set my goals for the coming year.

This week, I hope you will take a cue from Jotham, and order your ways before the LORD your God. He sees the greater picture, and His goals will always be in your best interest.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

Wait on it

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.

One of the most difficult aspects of life for me is waiting. I’m not talking about the kind of waiting that comes from long lines of Christmas shoppers either. What I am referring to is the waiting for the promises of God in my life.

The Bible is filled with promises for our lives. The promises that a loving Father makes to His children. These are the promises that we encourage one another with, when life gets challenging. We also have those deeply personal promises that come to us in our time alone with God. These are the glimpses of things to come…the words that set our eyes to a certain direction.

The difficult thing in experiencing these glorious promises is the wait. All too often we lose hope, lose courage or just plain lose sight of all that God has promised to us. The vision of tomorrow get’s lost in the static snow of today, and all too often we give up and abandon the vision.

This past week, I was struggling with some of those visionary promises from the Lord, and found myself being led back to a familiar passage. In the book of Habakkuk we see a back and forth dialogue between Habakkuk and the Lord. In the second chapter of this Old Testament book, we read these words:

Habakkuk 2:3 (KJV)
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

The real issue is not the validity or reliability of God’s promises, but instead it is an issue of timing. Habakkuk reminds us that God’s plan is for a specific time, known only to God. He points out that in our sense of time, the fulfillment of this promise may even seem delayed. His instruction for us is wise…”wait for it; because it will surely come…”

Our faith is based in the sovereignty of God. If we truly believe that God is sovereign, then we must recognize that He knows what is best for us. His timing is perfect, because He sees our circumstances not just in the present, but down the road in the future.

Today, I want to encourage you to hold tight to the vision God has given you. What may seem to be a delay, is actually God’s perfect timing at work in your life. Determine in your heart to wait upon the vision He has given you. I assure you it will be worth the wait.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl