“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his
steps.” Proverbs 16:9
It is in the nature of humanity to make plans for the
future. We observe how life functions, we see a way of life that appeals to us
and then we spend the first two to three decades working towards that goal.
Ideally these ends align with God’s will for our lives; however, most times our
life plans place God as a side note. Paradoxically, even when our goal is to
fulfil His directives. Let’s look at a classic example of the from Scripture.
Moses was born into slavery, and a death decree (Exodus
1:11-16, 22). By Divine providence he was adopted by the daughter of the king
who had his people in bondage and had ordered that he was to die at birth (Exodus
2:2-6). Moses was raised and trained by his own mother until he was 12-years
old then he went to live in the palace, where he received an education to be
the next ruler of Egypt (Exodus 2:7-10). Deep in his mind he knew, from his
mother’s training, that his purpose, ordained by God, was to free his people
from bondage. Moses made plans, he was a well trained military general and was
prepared to organize a slave rebellion, however, this was not God’s way (Exodus
2:11-15). Moses spent the subsequent 40 years being trained by God how the job
was to be done (Exodus 3:1-12). Because he followed God’s directives, to this
day he is considered the greatest leader to ever have lived on the earth.
Likewise, we as believers in God, see the mandate given us
by Jesus, to guide people out of the bondage of sin (Matthew 28:19, 20). We
want to obey so we make plans. We do research, workshop ideas, hold focus
groups, make outlines, study best practices, perform SWOT analyses, and perform
all the other “sensible” organizational steps necessary to get the job done,
all to no avail. Our churches maintain a “revolving door” and our communities
find no comfort in our presence. This is because the sole extent of our input
into the process of saving souls is to be willing to be used. Everything beyond
that is obedience to the commands of God. He is our Commander. He is the
Planner, Organizer, the True Leader. When He says “go forward”, go forward,
until He says “tarry” (Exodus 14:14-16; Luke 24:49). We must yield unreservedly
to God will.
As with Moses, Elijah, and all the prophets, judges, kings
and leaders of Israel, we as believers are called by God to lead others to Him.
In whatever profession we find ourselves – teacher, doctor, lawyer, plumber,
etc. – it is for us to choose to accept this mandate. Upon acceptance He will
direct our steps to fulfil the order.
Listen for His voice
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