Straight Paths for a Crooked World
In the news media, if it bleeds it leads. The world is full of bad news. However, we’re in the middle of a spiritual battle and the world is in the dark and unaware. They are blind to the spiritual reality. It’s like in Germany during the Nazi regime when Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, The church is sleepwalking toward a precipice.
According to Proverbs 3:5-6, 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 path..He shall make thy path straight. Crooked means that there are curves and bends in the wrong direction. However, when we trust in the Lord, he will direct us in the right direction. We’re called to be consistent everyday. A professional athlete walks the talk and talks the walk. A professional practices what he preaches. A professional is a practitioner of his discipline. Profession in English is from the Greek word, “homologeo.” It means same word. We’re called to make God’s word our word and his will our will. When an athlete loses confidence in his “muscle memory” it’s because he forgot what
What is the purpose for which has God called us? According Proverbs, trust in the Lord. He will make your way straight. He will clear the obstacles in your path. When we trust in him he will make our way productive according to his glory to show us that he is faithful to His word. He’ll test our character. God allowed the devil to test Job. God allowed the devil to test Job but God would not allow the devil to take his life. The devil caused a storm to devastate the house where Job’s children were gathered together. They all perished in the storm. Job remained faithful to God and did not curse God.
When circumstances are aligned against us. When our children fall into sin and our loved ones are faced with disease and death, will we trust in the Lord with all our heart? The first of the Ten Commandments says, thou shalt have no other Gods between your face and my face.
Suzan taught Pete that there was no competition in her heart. One morning she said to Pete, “I’m so disappointed this morning.” Pete asked her why. She said, “I thought I’d wake up in Jesus’ arms this morning, but here I am with you.” Pete understood that her heart was with her Lord. Therefore, be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Through the trials of life God will teach us, what seems as a wind of destruction, I will deepen you in the fire of affliction and purify your soul through the crucible of the trial. As David prayed, try me and test me and see if there is any wicked way in me. Through the crucible of pain, He will purify our heart. When we trust in Him to bring us through the trial, he’ll purify us to trust in him with all our heart and to lean not unto our own understanding.
The sheep know the shepherd’s voice by spending time in his presence. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and they know me and I give unto them eternal life. When we trust him by following him, we’ll come to know his voice. He will keep us on track. God will allow wounds, hurts, pains and crooked ways to test us. Through the trials of life we will come to the point that we understand that he’s in control, not me.
If we allow God to determine our faith, then he will direct our paths. In the midst of the trials of life, we’ll learn to dance in the storm. He will strengthen and uphold us with his righteous right hand. What seems to be a wind of destruction, he’ll bring us through to new victories.
The devil will say, what good is God if he allows me to suffer? What good is he if he allows me to lose my job. What good is he if he allows my child to suffer? In the midst of the trials of life, when we trust in the Lord with all our heart, our response will be Jesus’ response. When they nailed him to the cross, he said, “father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
We have to allow God to come help himself to our lives. He will purify our souls in the crucible of pain and affliction. To trust in the Lord means we need to trust him in all things…our finances, what we watch for entertainment, where and with whom we spend our time. God will teach us that he doesn’t need our gifts. Sometimes he’ll call us to sit on the bench when we want to be an all star. On the bench we’ll learn quiet grace and character. On the bench we’ll learn to support our team mate who’s up to bat. We’ll learn to cheer for him to make the play that wins the game.
God will work on us so that we can see what we’re preaching. It’s easy to talk the talk. However, life is lived in shoe leather. He’ll teach us to walk the talk. He’ll teach us to love our wives with the love of God. He’ll teach us to ask the right questions. It’s not the right question to question God’s “Justice and fairness.” If we think we deserve our just desserts, he’ll remind us that the wages of sin is death. Questioning God’s word and his will will lead us to the path’s of unrighteousness. If we’re in it for the blessing, we’re in it for the wrong reasons.
We don’t need to know the answers before we take a step of faith. Faith means to trust in the Lord and not our circumstances and situations. When we trust in him we will come to know his voice and understand his word and his will. Then when the crisis comes and courage is required, we will have such confidence in him that we will be the reliable ones. Therefore, 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 path…he shall make thy path straight.
And as we walk the path that He’s foreordained that we should walk, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael