I have to continually lean on my life verse here Proverbs 3:5&6. I think the thing that is most meaningful or appropriately directive in this verse is that the point is made that we will not “understand” many things in life. The first thing we attempt to do in times that seem somewhat confusing or “against what we had planned” is to try to make sense of them. We try to create a story that gets us to the point where we say “aha!” That is why all this took place. It is human nature to do so. Most of the time we can collect enough facts together to support the story we have created. That is why I think it is so important to emphasize that this truth says,”Lean not on your own understanding”.

I also find frequently through scripture that “His ways are not our ways”. Passages that tell us that we cannot understand the hand of God. We cannot trace it because it is constantly moving in directions that we cannot predict. We will never see the cinematic picture that God has created because we are such a small single pixel among billions. Yes we are to look for Him among all events in life. We are to “acknowledge Him in all of our ways”. We follow where He leads almost blindly because most of the time we cannot see what lies ahead. Therefor we “trust Him with all of our hearts”. Our hearts must be intensely tuned to Him as He leads us down paths that are many times uncertain. There may be a sudden turn we had not expected. Maybe a small path covered in leaves and branches that we would not have seen without holding tight to His hand.

I know with all of my heart that God will direct my path. I also know that following that path He has so sovereignly designed for me will take me to places that won’t make human sense. It won’t line up with the “logical” schedules or timelines we have created to bring us comfort. We have to consider that many times people won’t understand the “why”. They may even accuse you of making the wrong turn or going the wrong direction. All along in God’s economy, exists a peace that passes all understanding. The security in knowing that in the midst of a world that screams,”Your life makes no sense!”, God is accomplishing incredible things through that very life that will glorify Him and will fulfill His purpose.

So when you don’t feel one single hand on your back patting you with affirmation, trust Him. When someone is giving you what they feel is advice based in wisdom and discernment but your heart is telling you God is leading you down an “unpopular path” trust Him. When the road  He has chosen for you is the one that doesn’t appear to be paved and has no visible road signs, trust Him. Yes Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. Knowing this, it is amazing how we make most of our decisions based on visible evidence and collected facts.

I think we have to come to the conclusion that following God many times may look like insanity to most. When you step back on your life and everything looks planned out carefully and follows the standards created by many who do not know God, you may need to ask yourself how God actually fits into the picture. Does God ever look like the world? I think in most Biblical accounts of  major events it appears that God intentionally does the opposite of what was expected. He chooses the impossible over the possible. The illogical over the logical. The impractical over the practical. Most of all He chooses the miraculous over the mundane.

When God is in the middle of something, people will always step back and say WOW! How did that even happen?! I would have never planned it like that. How did all that come together from mass chaos?!  The answer is that God doesn’t have guidelines. Everything about Him has no limits and no boundaries. He is in control of everything and above everything. He answers to no-one. He is not scheduled in anyones calendar. He is in control of the calendar. He created time and every second of every minute ticks at His command. He decides when things stop and when they go. When they rise and when they fall. He has absolute authority over everything that has ever existed and everything that will ever exist. The most important thing to keep in mind as we live in this tiny window of life here on Earth is that everything may look totally different than we imagined. We must not allow a world full of fabricated boundaries, timelines, and barricades to box in this life that was created to pierce through solid rock like water.

Trust God to do incredible things with your life far beyond what you could imagine or understand! Live life in a way that takes so many twists and turns as it winds its way through touching and changing heart after heart that people can only acknowledge the hand of God as they observe. They will see that it has to be something more than well made plans and goals. It can only be the hand of God directing your path.

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