"Seek His will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."
Proverbs 3:6
First, a quick poll. How many of you believe that God will guide you through the pitfalls of life and get you aligned with your main purpose in life? OK - I see some hands going up over there, yes... OK...
Now, how many of you make God a vital part of your every day life - you continually talk to Him all day, throughout the day, asking for guidance with everything that occurs? Ooooh.... I see a lot of hands going down. OK - so - not so much...
What is interesting to me is how we seek advice from our friends, our coworkers, our family members, but we seldom seek the guidance of the all-knowing. We have compartmentalized our God. We go to church on Sunday, praise Him through songs and worship, then as we're leaving we place Him on the shelf till next Sunday. In a way, we try to restrict God's access to our life (as if that's even possible) by telling ourselves that we've done a good thing by going to church and God is pleased with us for doing so... now stay here until I come back to church... We need to take God with us as we leave (by the way He's with us anyway). We need to understand that God is with us always. Once we understand that - well - we might as well make Him a vital part of our life. Consult Him as situations occur during the day. Ask for His guidance. At first, you may not get an answer. At this point in our faith walk, we have to realize that we have allowed a vast void to develop between us and God.
In order to get this image across, picture yourself at the Grand Canyon with your best friend except you are on one side of the canyon and your best friend is on the other side. You're yelling at the top of your lungs for some advice from your best friend but they don't seem to hear you. (again lots of problems with the analogy but please give me some leeway) As you rely more on God, God will draw you nearer. You will begin to receive answers and it is REALLY cool!!! Notice, however, that I didn't say you'll begin to receive the answers you want.
The guidance we receive may seem to be completely off base to us. We must trust in God. Let me give you an example of what I mean. I had become completely burnt out in my job. The department I had worked in for 8 years was becoming boring to me. I wanted to move to a more exciting area in the company. I had the talent and knew I could do the work. I asked God to lead me to this other area - to show me a door so I can make a move. Every time the answer was "No". I was frustrated but in my heart was a message that kept telling me that He needed me to stay put. So I did. One year later the company downsized and several hundred people lost their jobs as that exciting area was completely shut down. I would have lost my job. Instead, by staying put, a new area was created and I was asked to lead this group. God had a plan for me that I didn't know anything about but by trusting in Him I was given a great opportunity.
As we trust in Him more and more, He will draw us nearer to Him. As we involve Him more in our daily decisions you will become more comfortable with asking for guidance. You will also begin to more easily recognize God's influence in your life. The more you rely on God, the closer your relationship will become. He will become the light onto your path.
I hope you're keeping up with your daily reading. Let me know which verse you thought was the most useful to you by leaving a comment or posting questions about what you've read.
The Shepherd
Return to The Proverbs Challenge
Proverbs 3:6
First, a quick poll. How many of you believe that God will guide you through the pitfalls of life and get you aligned with your main purpose in life? OK - I see some hands going up over there, yes... OK...
Now, how many of you make God a vital part of your every day life - you continually talk to Him all day, throughout the day, asking for guidance with everything that occurs? Ooooh.... I see a lot of hands going down. OK - so - not so much...
What is interesting to me is how we seek advice from our friends, our coworkers, our family members, but we seldom seek the guidance of the all-knowing. We have compartmentalized our God. We go to church on Sunday, praise Him through songs and worship, then as we're leaving we place Him on the shelf till next Sunday. In a way, we try to restrict God's access to our life (as if that's even possible) by telling ourselves that we've done a good thing by going to church and God is pleased with us for doing so... now stay here until I come back to church... We need to take God with us as we leave (by the way He's with us anyway). We need to understand that God is with us always. Once we understand that - well - we might as well make Him a vital part of our life. Consult Him as situations occur during the day. Ask for His guidance. At first, you may not get an answer. At this point in our faith walk, we have to realize that we have allowed a vast void to develop between us and God.
In order to get this image across, picture yourself at the Grand Canyon with your best friend except you are on one side of the canyon and your best friend is on the other side. You're yelling at the top of your lungs for some advice from your best friend but they don't seem to hear you. (again lots of problems with the analogy but please give me some leeway) As you rely more on God, God will draw you nearer. You will begin to receive answers and it is REALLY cool!!! Notice, however, that I didn't say you'll begin to receive the answers you want.
The guidance we receive may seem to be completely off base to us. We must trust in God. Let me give you an example of what I mean. I had become completely burnt out in my job. The department I had worked in for 8 years was becoming boring to me. I wanted to move to a more exciting area in the company. I had the talent and knew I could do the work. I asked God to lead me to this other area - to show me a door so I can make a move. Every time the answer was "No". I was frustrated but in my heart was a message that kept telling me that He needed me to stay put. So I did. One year later the company downsized and several hundred people lost their jobs as that exciting area was completely shut down. I would have lost my job. Instead, by staying put, a new area was created and I was asked to lead this group. God had a plan for me that I didn't know anything about but by trusting in Him I was given a great opportunity.
As we trust in Him more and more, He will draw us nearer to Him. As we involve Him more in our daily decisions you will become more comfortable with asking for guidance. You will also begin to more easily recognize God's influence in your life. The more you rely on God, the closer your relationship will become. He will become the light onto your path.
I hope you're keeping up with your daily reading. Let me know which verse you thought was the most useful to you by leaving a comment or posting questions about what you've read.
The Shepherd
Return to The Proverbs Challenge
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