The Journey
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 NIV
If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. Psalm 37:23-24 NIV
Road trips. I love them. The open road, travelling from town to town. Seein the city lights in the distance, and the different sights and scenery during the day. When I was a kid my family lover road trips. For vacation or the holidays we would never fly back to Ohio or wherever we were going, we would always drive. I don't know if it was due to the lack of money because my family was never that well off back then, or if my father was just a glutton for punishment. But to this day, I love road trips. And we all have been on them.
When you go on a road trip, the first thing you do is plan. You buy a map or an atlas or, these days, GPS systems and directional helps. All this technology can tell you where to go, how to get there, and how long it takes. So once we are planned, we are off on the adventure. We know where we are going and how we are getting there and we know where we will end up.
The journey of discipleship is the same way. We look ahead and down the road to life and we plan and see in our hearts where we want to go, where we want to end up, how we want to get there. But one thing that we, or the technology we use, can see are the detours and change of plans. We plan the course of our lives and we can see it, but that vision we have may not be what God wants us and where He wants us. God did not lead the people of Israel down the shortest road to the promised land, He led them the way He wanted. There were detours, change of directions, and some of the people stumbled. But God was directing their path the whole way all the while building them up as His people. We can plan where we want to go but God ulitmately directs us and our footsteps. We may want to go right, but God wants us to go left. And sometimes we do go right, and we stumble, and God is there to steer us back on track. The journey of a disciple is a life long journey and only God knows exactly where they journey will take us. He will guide us the whole way.
If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. Psalm 37:23-24 NIV
Road trips. I love them. The open road, travelling from town to town. Seein the city lights in the distance, and the different sights and scenery during the day. When I was a kid my family lover road trips. For vacation or the holidays we would never fly back to Ohio or wherever we were going, we would always drive. I don't know if it was due to the lack of money because my family was never that well off back then, or if my father was just a glutton for punishment. But to this day, I love road trips. And we all have been on them.
When you go on a road trip, the first thing you do is plan. You buy a map or an atlas or, these days, GPS systems and directional helps. All this technology can tell you where to go, how to get there, and how long it takes. So once we are planned, we are off on the adventure. We know where we are going and how we are getting there and we know where we will end up.
The journey of discipleship is the same way. We look ahead and down the road to life and we plan and see in our hearts where we want to go, where we want to end up, how we want to get there. But one thing that we, or the technology we use, can see are the detours and change of plans. We plan the course of our lives and we can see it, but that vision we have may not be what God wants us and where He wants us. God did not lead the people of Israel down the shortest road to the promised land, He led them the way He wanted. There were detours, change of directions, and some of the people stumbled. But God was directing their path the whole way all the while building them up as His people. We can plan where we want to go but God ulitmately directs us and our footsteps. We may want to go right, but God wants us to go left. And sometimes we do go right, and we stumble, and God is there to steer us back on track. The journey of a disciple is a life long journey and only God knows exactly where they journey will take us. He will guide us the whole way.