We all know that our decisions affect us for the rest of our lives. When is the last time that you stopped to think just how far reaching those decisions not only ripple into your own life but into the lives of others?
I’m in a place right now where I’m still not exactly sure what God is doing, where He is leading me, or what He is taking me towards being about. In my interactions lately with my Christian brothers and sisters around me God has been illuminating these ripples from past decisions all while redefining my faith in some pretty dramatic ways.
I’m sharing all of this because I’m feeling led to share reminder to us all that it doesn’t matter how small or how large of a decision, God should be a part of EVERY decision that we make. In fact, He should be the center of our universe and the guiding factor in our entire life.
“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.” Psalm 139:1-6
Reading these verses is comforting and I’m thankful to be in a place where I have given my life’s direction over to God and to see parts of these passages that are real in my own life. However, as I get older there are decisions, even that I haven’t made on my own that have shaped my existence in lasting ways both good and deeply scarring.
God has been moving in my life lately in ways that have opened my eyes more and more as to just how much surrender is required on my part to Him, just how deeply that I need to be dedicated to Him and how very much that I need to trust Him.
“Make my steps steady through Your promise;
don’t let any sin dominate me.
Redeem me from human oppression,
and I will keep Your precepts.
Show favor to Your servant,
and teach me Your statutes.
My eyes pour out streams of tears
because people do not follow Your instruction.”
Even today I was reminded by Him during the middle of a meeting that He is ordering my steps and has me hemmed in because of that surrender to Him. You see, I never would have chosen the job that I have now on my own working in a very secular environment. After college I was applying and even interviewed with a couple of churches. After a lot of prayer and deliberation God led me to the position that I hold now. I held and still do hold it in my heart that this was/is just a “stepping stone” into the place that God had/has for me. It’s now been almost 14 years now and slowly He has been showing me why He put me in this place. In fact just today I had a revelation as to yet another reason why I believe that I am where I am.
Following Christ is a struggle at times and very painful. Yet, even when we don’t understand why God is dealing with us in the way that He is we have to trust Him.
“Simon Peter answered, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life [You are our only hope]” John 6:68 Emphasis Added
Are you at the place that Peter was responding to Jesus from? I am! God has been my Father, He has moulded and made me into the person that I am. Even now as I learn to surrender to Him fully and to draw near to Him as my everything and my first love He is moulding me and making me into His image even more and the person that He wants me to be.
Will you trust Him and engage Him for every decision in your life no matter how small or how large? We may not know the implications of even the smallest of decisions but He knows every tiny ripple of every decision that we will ever make.
Father God, I bow at your feet in gratitude. Gratitude because I know that in every circumstance that comes my way that You are with me and that You want to be a close and intimate part of my life. I ask Lord Jesus that You would forgive me of all the times that I have failed You and all of the times that I have wandered out on my own without Your direction. Please God, order my steps, hem me in, and illuminate the path that You have set before me. Please show each one of us Your faithfulness and bless us as we look to You and try to grow our relationships with You. I ask these things in the Holy name of Your Son Jesus Christ. AMEN
This Narrow Path... 