Finding the Straight Path.
Life has a way of throwing us surprises. One day everything is all fine and dandy, you are happy, content, and thanking God for all the wonderful blessings and answered prayers. And then the next, you are faced with the reality that you are not in control and you are still living in a fallen world, which offers heartache and pain.
It is interesting to see our response in the matter. When things seem to be going according to plan, we believe and trust fully in God's goodness, wisdom, and sovereignty; however, when we encounter the unexpected or one of our deepest fears becomes our reality, our song changes and our soul is full of sadness, grief, and despair, oftentimes leading us to the temptation to doubt God's goodness, wisdom, and sovereignty.
Something that is so important, and very hard to learn, is how to run to God in the midst of our pain, heartache, loss, and confusion. It is hard to let go of the desire to figure it out and just trust that God allowed something to happen in His great knowledge of all things. It is a struggle to take the pain, struggle, and grief to Him, as it requires us to release control of knowing. By nature, we are fixers. We want to know why something doesn't work, didn't work, or won't work. We want to do everything in our power to remain in control and fight to make sense of it all, rather than taking it to the Lord and accepting that His ways are higher and His thoughts are greater than ours could ever be. We try with all of our strength to rely on our own understanding, although all that does is lead us down a spiraling path of anxiety, anger, and depression.
In Proverbs 3:5-6, we see that we are to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge and submit to Him, and He will make straight our paths.
What is interesting to me about this verse are the following 3 things:
We are to trust in the Lord with ALL of our heart - not just part of it or certain areas of it, but rather with every little millimeter of it. This includes every single passion, desire, feeling, fear, insecurity, etc.
The only way to actually not lean on our own understanding is to look to something else for the answer. This requires we acknowledge God and submit ALL our ways to Him: surrendering our will and strength to Him. Again, this is in every single aspect of our life and all of our comings and goings; we are to look to Him.
As we acknowledge and submit to Him, and only as we do this, He will make our paths straight - paths full of peace, hope, joy, rest, freedom, etc., despite any situation with which we are faced because we know that all these things are truly only found in Him.
The Lord has made it clear to us in His Word how to access good, straight paths and how to live fully, despite our circumstances and present realities. It takes work, though, and it takes intentional trust and submission to Him, which is far from easy and opposite of our human nature. However, it is possible, and it is the only way. Anywhere else we look for guidance, direction, and understanding will only lead us down twisting, windy, and dead end paths, amounting to nothing more than pain, grief, emptiness, and despair.
I am learning just how important it is to call upon God every single time I sense a feeling of pain, sadness, anxiety, anger, confusion, etc. - name whatever emotion you may be facing. Our job is not to fix the emotion and get rid of it, rather we are invited into an opportunity to bring it to the Lord and learn to worship Him through it. When we can truly see that we are not condemned by whatever emotion(s) we are facing, but instead see it as an opportunity to grow in our worship and knowledge of the Lord Himself and to learn how to trust and depend on Him more than ourselves and others, then we are able to better live from a place of hope rather than despair. Surrender is one of simplest postures of worship; however, it is one of the hardest postures to actually take.
This is not easy, and rarely does it feel like it even makes sense. However, it is when we realize that we cannot keep pressing on because of our weak, feeble, broken hearted selves, that we truly learn and grow in our understanding that God alone is our strength, peace, refuge, and hope.
Today, whatever is going on in your world, I challenge you to take it to the Father. Lay it down at His feet. Invite Him into your weariness, sadness, hopelessness, and despair. Allow Him the opportunity to open your eyes to see that He is the One you need. He is your Sustainer and your forever Constant One. He is your sole Provider of everything you could possibly need.
Whatever hard decision you are faced with today, take it to Him and ask Him for wisdom, discernment, and courage to obey.
Whatever loss you are experiencing, whether that be a relationship, job, dream, desire, loved one, etc., take it to Him and offer up your tears and lack to Him, and ask that He would give you the strength to just take one more step.
Whatever past situation that is holding you back and causing your present self and relationships to suffer, share it with the Lord and ask Him to help you face it and to heal your heart so that you may walk in freedom and peace.
Whatever it is, loved ones, just take it to Him. Embrace the trial and the hardship, and ask God to help you see this as an opportunity to grow in your relationship with Him. Growth is never easy. It requires a lot of patience and waiting. However, the Lord is our ever present help, and we can rely on Him to always meet us where we are.
I pray that today you may find hope and peace in whatever life may be throwing your way. And if you are in a good season, I pray that you would praise God for all He has given you and remember that He alone is your true satisfaction. I pray that you would look to Him for understanding in all things and submit all your ways to Him, that He may continue to teach you more about who He truly is and use you for His glory and purposes.
No matter where we are or what season we are in, we are all in need of Christ and can only truly trust our Savior Jesus.
Soli Deo gloria.