Ordering Our Steps

Recently I've been looking at some of those fancy GPS navigation systems that, once configured, can get someone to their destination safer with step-by-step driving directions. Anyone who has ever been the recipient of bad driving directions, and who have driven around lost a few times, can fully appreciate the value of such a device. Thank God for technology!

However, as I scanned the various types and their capabilities, it occurred to me that in the journey of life we often get lost. We either follow bad directions, or in some cases, we navigate through life on a whim without any sense of direction. Along the side of life's roadways, we see evidence of the carnage that results from this kind of pursuit; dysfunctional relationships, dysfunctional families, misplaced priorities, to name a few. The truth of the matter is that it doesn't have to be that way.

In Proverbs 3:5-6, Solomon gives us what could be considered life's greatest navigation system. In that portion of Scripture we read: "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." The rendition from the Amplified Bible is even more compelling: "Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths." If we want step-by-step directions for our lives, there is no greater Navigator than God Himself. David reassures us "The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step]" (Psalm 37:23, Amplified).

I like what Bible Commentator Matthew Henry said, in part, on Proverbs 3:5, "By faith. We must repose an entire confidence in the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, assuring ourselves of the extent of his providence to all the creatures and all their actions....we must believe that he is able to do what he will, wise to do what is best, and good, according to his promise, to do what is best for us, if we love him, and serve him."

As we go from day to day, may we take the time to become intimately acquainted with the Saviour, and trust Him to direct our every step. He knows the way through the mazes of life; all we have to do is to follow.