Where You Lead

Guidelines

I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

Psalm 119:104

We all know that raising children doesn’t come with directions. That first child is so much a matter of trial and error. In my case, it was mostly error. And just when I thought I knew the answers, the questions changed as my child entered a new stage. To add another twist, I also found that what worked for the first kid didn’t always work for the second, or fourth or sixth. This parenting thing is tough!

Like so many parents, I pored over parenting books; I talked to other parents for advice. I have no idea why, but it never occurred to me that everything I needed to know was right in front of me, in God’s word. God has given us the answers on how to live and even how to parent. We just need to make the effort to read His Word.

Even now, when things get touchy in the parenting department, I tend to fret and worry until I remember where I’ve always found the answer. I just have to open my Bible and start reading. Or just close my eyes and remember what I know about our Lord. God guides in every way, even in parenting, if we’ll only let Him.

Immovable Heart

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast.

Psalm 57:7

A steadfast heart is constant. It’s strong. It never doubts, never wavers.

I know my heart is steadfast when my life is going well. When I can see God’s hand in my life, feel His blessings, my love and devotion to Him is sure and steady. When things go wrong, though, I find that I must make a real effort to remain steadfast in my faith. I must make a conscious effort remain to true to my Lord.

Each and every day, no matter what is happening around me, I must make a choice to connect to Him, to confide in Him, to love Him. Every time I turn my back on sin or reach outside of myself do His work, I am strengthening my bond with God.

Let’s all work toward having a steadfast heart for God.

True Faith

We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

Hebrews 3:14

I know a lot of Christians who proclaim their faith. I have no reason to doubt them. I know a number of people, too, who lost faith when things went horribly wrong in their lives. They felt that God had betrayed them or walked away. They question why God would let such a thing happen.

Keeping faith during good times is easy. We praise God for the wonderful things in our lives and keep honoring Him. Keeping faith when things go wrong is not so easy. We tend to blame God. We may cry out to Him, asking why He has forgotten about us. Or we may turn away, angry.

True faith does not falter. No matter what happens, no matter how awful events seem to be, we must remain faithful to God, keeping our sights on Christ and believing that our Lord will never forsake us. We must continue to trust God and rely on His love.

Be faithful to God; He is always faithful to us.

Foundational Trust

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

Jeremiah 17:7

One of my biggest challenges is trust. I have a tendency, as do many of us, to want to control situations and outcomes. I want to step in and do something to make things work out right. At the same time, or at alternating times, I find myself longing for someone to take care of me as if I were I child. I just get tired of being a grown up. I want someone I can trust.

I know I need to let go of control and turn everything over to God. God is the only one deserving of my trust. I’ve learned through the years that you can’t trust a job or career, that drugs and alcohol are not reliable, that other people are only human and will likely let you down. Only God is there for me always and only God will never let me down. I must trust God for the big things and the little things in my life.

Today, I will trust my Lord.

All Or Nothing

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

Have you ever wondered why you don’t feel some sort overpowering joy when you think of God? I used to wonder that all the time. I knew people who seemed to be overcome with emotion at the thought of Jesus. I was jealous of their faith and spiritual life. I thought that God had touched them in a way that I just couldn’t fathom.

It took many years and much prayer to realize that what I was seeing in others wasn’t “more” than what I had, but was simply different. My love of Christ and my faith in God was just as real as anyone’s. It didn’t matter that my own faith was more quiet and relaxed; what mattered was that God could look in my heart and know that I was sincere in my love for Him.

We much each set our on our journey to seek God, knowing that He will find us and be for each of us just what we need. God will look into my heart and know that despite the mistakes I make, my desire is to please Him. God knows the truth in my heart. And in yours.

Constant Trust

Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.

It’s been quite a while since I thought about trusting God. I used to pray about trust almost every day. You see, I decided a long time ago to trust God to the planning of my family. I figured that there was no way that husband and I could know better than God how many kids we ought to have. For many reasons, it took a leap of immense faith to continue to trust Him after the birth of my daughter. But we did. And He took care of us.

Sometimes doubt clouds my mind and I reason that God is so busy with other, more important issues that I shouldn’t expect him to tend to my life just because I’ve decided to trust Him with the details. That thinking is flawed, of course, since God just doesn’t fit neatly into the human box that I’ve built around Him. He wants to be a part of my life, regardless of how mundane or inconsequential it is in the grand theme of things.

Trust. I must remember to trust His love and His care for me. I must remember to trust that He knows better than I do in every situation. I must work on trusting Him enough to not worry, not stress, not pore over every detail of every dilemma I face. I must trust Him to show me the answer because His answer is always right.