Follow God's Leading

                                                                

Matthew 1:24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife ...

As I read the account of Jesus’ birth and early years, I am reminded of the beauty of how God leads us.  

Joseph was a man of humble means. He was a carpenter. He was not wealthy. He probably was not educated beyond the basic schooling of that day.   

Much of what was happening in his life at a time that should have been exciting - engaged and looking forward to a new life with a new wife - was in an upheaval.

Events were way outside his comfort zone.

What was happening was beyond his ability to know and act without God’s help.  

But Joseph obviously had a deep faith that included the astuteness to recognize God’s direction through his dreams.  

Every time he had a dream, he took to heart the leading it gave him.  

He married Mary after a dream.

He left Bethlehem and went to Egypt as the result of a dream.

He came back to Israel because of a dream.   

He moved from Bethlehem back to Nazareth because of a dream.   

Each move was one he probably would never have made for any other reason, but each one was timely and wise.   

God led Joseph by giving him dreams because God does whatever is necessary to help us know what to do.

For Joseph it was in dreams. 

For me it has varied from advice of godly friends 

      to sermons that I heard 

          to reading Scripture. 

Each time, it was up to me to follow through on what God's leading was.

Like Joseph, I have always found God's leading to be the best move for me to take.

How has God led you?

Getting Directions

                                                

Jeremiah 6:16 Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

I hate to feel lost when traveling, so I am almost obsessive about having directions at my fingertips either printed out or on my cell phone. I am happiest when I have a sense of where I am and how I will get to my destination.

That is probably why this verse speaks to me so much. God, through the prophet Jeremiah, is telling His people that if they want directions on how their lives can please God, all they have to do is take the steps He outlines here.

STAND AND LOOK - Do not keep moving until you know where you are . Get your spiritual bearings so you can see where you are and what the possibilities are for moving ahead. 

For me, my life has seen many times when I stood at a crossroads and had to look and decide whether I was going to follow God’s way or deviate from that.  As I have grown older and am now a senior citizen, I have discovered that this is still the case.  It is just the setting that changes with my age, and with the changes in society that affect me.  

I still have to stop and look both ways, so to speak, and find the good way and decide to walk that route. 

ASK - Don't be shy to ask for directions. Ask God for help in knowing which way to go. Ask others who you know are God-followers for advice.

Ask which way would be the best way to get to your destination.

FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS - It will not be helpful for you to just get the instruction on how to arrive at your destination. You need to actually follow the directions.

God is good at giving us directions we can follow to get to the rest, the eternal life, the peace of heart and mind that He promises.

I have complete rest in my soul because I know that I have done this process, at every crossroads I have come to.  The decision, the process of finding where the good path is, is sometimes more difficult than others, but when I ASK for those directions, I have always gotten an answer from the Great Director, and I continue to be at rest.