He Leadeth Me

The story is told of a man on an African safari deep in the jungle. The guide before him had a machete and was whacking away the tall weeds and thick underbrush. The traveler, wearied and hot, asked in frustration, "Where are we? Do you know where you are taking me? Where is the path?!" The seasoned guide stopped and looked back at the man and replied, "I am the path."

We ask the same questions, don't we? We ask God, "Where are you taking me? Where is the path?" And he, like the guide, doesn't tell us. Oh, he may give us a hint or two, but that's all. If he did, would we understand? Would we comprehend our location? No, like the traveler, we are unacquainted with this jungle. So rather than give us an answer, Jesus gives us a far greater gift. He gives us himself.

Does he remove the jungle? No, the vegetation is still thick.
Does he purge the predators? No, danger still lurks.

Jesus doesn't give hope by changing the jungle; he restores our hope by giving us himself. And he has promised to stay until the very end.

(From Max Lucado, Traveling Light)

The issue I'm struggling with most, at the moment, is with finding out God's plan for my life. I have so many questions, and so many options, and all I really want to do is find out what he wants for me and then do it.

I thought about Jonah today. God specifically told Jonah to go to Ninevah. Jonah deliberately disobeyed God, but he ended up in Ninevah anyway. God's will couldn't be altered, even when Jonah ran the opposite way and hid.

That's a comforting thought. There's nothing I can do to mess up God's plan for me. I am committed to going where he leads and I am confident that he'll steer me as I go. There's no need to worry about the future.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:105) It isn't a map, high-tech GPS, or even a series of equally spaced streetlights. He'll show me where to go, one step at a time, and I trust him.

He leadeth me, O blessed thought!
O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

(He Leadeth Me, Joseph Gilmore, 1862)