What direction are you headed?

Ever have days where you are wandering around in a daze not sure what’s going on or even what’s your next step? There are mornings when I get up stumbling around in the dark looking for my shoes to take the dog out. It might take me a while to get my bearings, but I finally get him out.

There’s one spot in the yard where he is most likely to take care of business. Yet, if I don’t keep him to task, he’s likely to be distracted with every little thing, chasing the geese or the squirrels, digging at the mole runs or licking the wet grass. He enjoys going outside but he has to be on a leash.

I have to lead him to what we call “The Pines.” It’s a stand of ten pine trees that protects the ground from dew and has little grass. Once he’s there he’s good to go. My dog loves the journey to get to “The Pines.” He sniffs everything; he tries to eat lots of things; he nudges little bugs to see if they will move. The journey is what he likes, but without me directing him, we will be out there for a while.

Several years ago, I read the following quote from my Bible study: It is often said, “It’s not about the destination but the journey.” What I am learning is that it’s not about the journey, but more about the direction. The Israelites wandered in a circle for forty years. You can call that a journey, but it had no direction. Branon Dempsey, The Path of a Worshiper on YouVersion Bible App.

Wow! There was my epiphany for the day. How much are we like the Israelites or even my dog just to enjoy the journey on our own? It could take a while for us to get where God has intended for us to be if left to our own devices. If we were to follow God’s leading or directions, how sooner would we arrive where He wants us to be?

My aha moment has passed. So what do I do to stay focused on my journey to head in the direction God has planned for me?

Continue my conversations with God

Since his plan is best, I must follow His leading instead of my own or even the plans others may want for me. The best way for me to discover God’s plan for my life is to talk to Him about it. Those conversations are not a once a week kind of thing; they are daily conversations all day long if necessary. The habit of prayer is a challenge, but well worth the work. I have discovered the more I pray, the more in tune I find myself with God.

Continue reading God’s word

This step is non-negotiable. The word of God is everything, for without it my way is lost. I have chosen to remember several verses that speak directly to following God’s directions.

• Make me know Your ways, O Lord ; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. Psalms 25:4‭-‬5
• My steps have held fast to Your paths. My feet have not slipped. Psalms 17:5
• Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. Psalms 119:35
• Establish my footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. Psalms 119:133

Continue moving forward

One of my tendencies along my journey thus far has been to sit back and see what happens next. I can’t do that and expect to grow. I have to keep moving, but moving toward God. Do I always know what is coming next? No, but I keep moving. This is faith. I’m reminded of what James wrote in his epistle. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2:24‭-‬26

I write these words from my experiences to encourage. My goal is to help others who may have fallen along the path in their journey. In no way am I perfect, far from it; failure is the best teacher in not what to do. Yet even in my failure, God has never stopped loving me or forgiving me when those failures come.