Prayer, Persistence, Patience, Deliverance, Trust

Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Light on my path

Life is truly a journey, but sometimes while on the trip we are faced with turns, stops, and forks in the road where we desperately need God’s divine guidance. In the middle of the indecisive moments in our lives, we must do our part in seeking God’s will.

The word of God is designed specifically for the believer to utilise in reading, studying and meditation regarding any situation. God additionally provides his children with the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth and revelation concerning our life’s purpose, plan, and assignment. Frustration often occurs when we independently choose our own plans apart from God’s word and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:13-14: ¹³But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

Similarly, irritation attempts to creep in when we follow God’s word and heed to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and change in our situation doesn’t happen instantly. During those waiting periods, I encourage you to wait some more, trust, pray, and praise the LORD because additional guidance and revelation is on the way.

Hebrews 11:6: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God and sometimes He doesn’t provide the entire picture of your life’s plan, just one pixel at a time. When you feel like you don’t know where to turn, remember God’s word is the light that guides you and illuminates your path.

2 Timothy 3:16-17: ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

God continues to reveal, speak, and guide his children. Be encouraged today and make sure that you are in alignment with his will, word, and way. Then you will begin to notice God’s divine guiding power in your life.

Search me, oh God

Psalm 139:23-24

²³Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

If we’re not careful, our hearts can become like double-sided tape, picking up slights and hurts with increasing ease. And God is never duped by our outward appearance. He, better than anyone, knows that no human being is exempt from needing to declutter our hearts.

Even David, described as a man after God’s own heart, asked God to examine the contents of his soul in Psalm 139:23-24

His prayer gives us three practical steps to follow in decluttering our hearts.

1 Ask God

David courageously asked God to conduct an internal excavation. This was a brave request considering God knows all things, even that which we hide from ourselves.

And though the combination of our mind, will, and emotions may look like a long overdue garage sale, He is not hesitant to delve inside. He is not repelled by the complexity of our soul. Fully aware of the sum total of who we are, He delights in us.

2 Listen to God

David not only asked, but was prepared to listen to all that God would reveal to him about his heart. This was evident by his asking “See if there is any offensive way in me,”. David wanted to know God’s opinion of who he was at his core.

If we choose, like David, to declutter our hearts, we need to be prepared for what God has to say about us. He may ask us to part with a piece of ourselves we feel intimately connected to. Though it may be difficult, we can rest in the truth that God loves us extravagantly.

He is a master heart pruner, who purges because He knows it will make us better. Gently he persistently prompts us to release the jumbled hodgepodge of clutter we’ve piled up in our hearts. As our Creator, we can trust He has a purpose when He says “Let it go.”

He alone knows what needs to be kept or discarded.

3 Follow God

David ends his Psalm by saying “. . . and lead me in the way everlasting.” If you are like me, sometimes I think I am a shepherd instead of a sheep. Foolishly, I get confused into thinking I can do a better job leading myself; but I can’t.

This is futile because a self-led person is headed for ruin. It is better to be led by God who sees our beginning and our end. If He can speak to the waves and bring peace then he can speak to our cluttered souls and bring order. We must surrender to Him: believing His infinite understanding of who we are is far superior than our finite perspective.

Live Christ Centered

Light my path and search me, oh God

Light on my path