He Leadeth Me

Oh, I was desperate for a Word! I came before the LORD, longing only to hear His voice and to hear it above the roar of the day before me. I needed my course to be corrected. I had gone off course and I knew it but I didn't know how to fix it. I needed the Master to place His nail-scarred hands over mine and redirect me. I called to Him. I reminded myself of what He had told me... "when you pray, I will listen. You will find Me when you seek Me, if you look for me in earnest." (Jeremiah 29:12, 13 LB) "And if you leave God's paths and go astray, you will hear a Voice behind you say, 'No, this is the way; walk here.'" (Isaiah 30:21 LB)


The LORD took me to Psalm 78. I love that psalm! He has spoken precious promises to me through these verses. Today, these verses held fresh, new insight. Isn't that just like our God?!

"For He divided the sea before them and led them through!" (vs. 13a) I asked Him to please do this with the load that overwhelms me.

"In the daytime He led them by a cloud, and at night by a pillar of fire." (vs. 14) I could trust Him to lead me.

"He split open the rocks in the wilderness to give them plenty of water, as though gushing from a spring. Streams poured from the rock, flowing like a river." (vs. 15, 16) O LORD, I am so thirsty!

"He gave them bread from heaven! They ate angels' food! He gave them all they could hold." (vs. 24b, 25) May I feast on You and be satisfied, O LORD.

"But it was only with their words they followed Him, not with their hearts... They did not keep their promises." (vs. 36, 37b) Oh... I didn't like the sound of that! How LORD?

You see, the LORD has really been teaching me about living intentionally - walking circumspectly. He has had me revisit my core values and the verses that prompted them pretty much daily. He wants them to so resonate in me that they become the signposts of my choices. Yesterday, in the midst of good intentions, I dismissed a pledge that I had made to the LORD as being too difficult to carry out that day. Before long, I also dismissed a knawing in my soul. The result? I spent my energy on a "good" thing and missed out on the best. On top of that, I wasn't the only one who paid the consequences. My children paid too. "...I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life that you and your children may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19) "Again and again they turned away... and limited the Holy One of Israel from giving them His blessings." (vs. 41)

So where does that leave me? In the midst of grace! "Yet He was merciful and forgave their sins... He remembered that they (I) were merely mortal men, gone in a moment like a breath of wind." (vs. 38, 39)

The LORD has shown me the path through the waters of my responsibilities. It's a dry, clear cut path but it takes trust. Each morning, as I sit and wait upon Him to direct the course of the day, He sets the pillar of cloud before me. In the evening, He leads by a pillar of fire. The values that He has set out for me are His. They help me stay the course when the waves pound on the sea of life. I need to trust the Master when earthly "wisdom" would suggest a different course. My heart must choose to follow. I must not forget His power and love or "like a crooked arrow", I will miss "the target of God's will." (see vs. 57) Just like the Israelites, He is bringing me to the border of "His land of blessing", to the land He has made for me. (see vs. 54)

And today... His mercies are renewed. Just like they will be tomorrow and the next day. I'm learning - by His great faithfulness!