Have you ever felt completely conflicted, not knowing which direction to turn? GPS can help when you are driving, but there are times when even that technological advancement gets it entirely wrong. The Bible is our spiritual GPS, giving us the answers to many age old questions. Yet some of those daily decisions don’t seem to have a Biblical answer. If you are being offered a job in New York City and another one in Tokyo, Japan, there is probably not a Bible verse that is going to give you that answer every time! In cases like that, we are instructed to wait on the Lord, to pray, and to seek Him. When we do that, He often will open one door and close another. In Biblical days, they cast lots, which would be
the modern-day equivalent of rolling dice. God already knows which decision you will make! That brings us to the most important promise in the Bible for believers, while still on the earth:
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 (NKJV)
What an amazing promise! It doesn’t say that all things that we do correctly work out for our good, but all things. Every bad decision, God still can turn around for our good! What an amazing God! Just to make sure that you fall into this category, who are those who love God and are the called according to His purpose? That would be anyone who has asked Him into their hearts! When we are going through a difficult time on this earth, we sometimes forget how brief that difficulty will last. Even if the duration of the trial was to be our entire lives on this earth, it would pale in comparison to the amount of time we are going to spend with Him for eternity.
One way of grasping this is to understand the difference between God’s perfect will and His permissive will. I see it as a detour sign. While it may take less time to go directly from point A to point B, when we choose a waypoint that sends us on a wild goose chase, God faithfully brings us back to the path He has designed for us! When I was a teenager, I decided to follow the Lord, but a few years later, I selfishly pursued my own desires. Those desires carried me to a place of brokenness, and through that brokenness, I returned to the original path of following the Lord. Did I see the Lord in each of those detours? No, but He certainly was there, guiding my path.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
Psalms 119:105
Robert Frost wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” God’s path is the one with all the blessings. That road more traveled by is the one with all the potholes, which cause us to trip and fall! If you are following the world, you are on the path to destruction.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:13-14
Yet there is a difference between the path and the gate. As Christians, we occasionally can find ourselves on the wrong path, but God will make sure He gets us to the right gate! So take another step and stand on promise #2.
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