Finding My Way

A constant battle wages in my life. Its front line stretches across the corner of my desk where my calendar and my reminders usually rest. Its combatants are those written urgings on one side and Your whispered confidence on the other: "Trust me."

How much to plan and how much to trust? On one hand, I can't sashay through life without any goals in mind, can I? Yet, I know that my future is already written in the palm of your hand. This goes way beyond theoretical doctrinal issues about free will. This has to do with whether I should do the laundry and go to the grocery store today or just sit and pray for direction.

God went ahead of you in your journey, in fire by night and in cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.--Deuteronomy 1:33

Hmmm. Fire by night and cloud by day. Pretty easy to see, wasn't it? And big. Very big. So what does that have to say to me? First, that You already know where I am supposed to go. You have already planned my proper, safe, and holy course. Second, You have given me clear signals regarding how to get there.

Now, I know that the days of cloud and fire have passed, so what are my signposts today? I think that, for me, You have again provided two: Your Word, and my circumstance. Your Word points and my circumstances dictate. Sure, there are choices, but only one way shows Your clear marks. In this, You do not come behind or beside, but lead. Christ said simply, "Follow Me."

I have to look where you might be found, then go there. That is my job, my to-do list, this day and every day. So where does that leave the dirty laundry and the sink full of dishes? They call for attention, but do not really matter. These tasks need doing, but You mark the way to a higher road.

This is why my plans diminish in Your sight--they lack eternal imagination. With Your knowledge of the end from the beginning, with Your vision for the highest and the best, You can lead me to I place I can't even imagine. Your way may take me through some plain tasks like dishes or groceries, but it always goes far beyond. Your way may ignore those things, too, and only You know when it must.

So, I can fill up my calendar and my to-do list as long as I remember that they take a back seat to yours. In the end, all I have to do every day is wake up and look for You.

I have placed before you an open door no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.--Revelation 3:8