By Joseph Ametepe
"And the LORD will continually guide you" (Isaiah 58:11a).
This is a precious promise given to God's believing people. It is a promise that encourages us to look to God to lead us in life. God knows that life on earth is tough. He knows life can be perplexing and puzzling. He is also aware of our enemy who wants to confuse us and create doubts in our hearts and minds. As such, God takes it upon Himself to guide, lead, direct us into His purposes. Notice the Bible reveals His commitment in guiding us. He will continually, consistently, constantly lead the believer in Christ who looks to Him for His leading in life. In other words, as a believer in Jesus, you can count on the Holy Spirit's daily, regular, perpetual guidance without interruption. He promises to guide us at all times, 24/7. What a privilege given to believers! The Hebrew word for "guide" (nachah), was often used of God governing men (see Psalms 5:8; 27:11; 31:3; 61:2; 73:24; 143:10). God guided Abraham's servant to take a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24:27). The pillars of cloud and fire showed the Israelite which way that God wanted them to go (Exodus 13:21). Since our God is unchanging, He is willing to lead us today as He did thousands of years ago. Do you want God to show you the way He wants you to go in life in order to serve His purpose? If so, turn your eyes upon Jesus! Trust Him to guide you! Take Him at His word! Thank Him for His willingness to direct your steps into His plans and purposes.
F. B. Meyer writes: "How much of our Christian work has been ineffective because we have persisted in initiating it for ourselves instead of ascertaining what God was doing and where He required our presence! We dream bright dreams of success. We try to command it. We call to our aid all kinds of resources, questionable or otherwise. At last we turn back, disheartened and ashamed, like children who are torn and scratched by the brambles and soiled by the quagmire. None of this would have happened if only we had been, from the first, under God's unerring guidance. Children of God who long to know their Father's will turn to the Bible and gain confidence by noticing how in all ages God has guided those who dared to trust Him completely, even as those same people must have been as perplexed as we often are...It is impossible to think that God could guide us at all if He did not guide us always. So we are bidden to look for guidance that will embrace the whole of life in all its myriad necessities."