March 12, 2016

God Directs Our Steps

In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.

-- Proverbs 16:9

Last night at dinner I heard a young man of maybe 15 telling his family about a friend from school. The young man was in love with his girlfriend of three weeks. He already had their future planned, right down to where they would live and how many children they would have.

Now this young man thought his friend was nuts. How can he know after only three weeks, he asked his family. Answer: He can’t.

I don’t know your age or where you are in life, but those young dreams seem so long ago. I had such plans. It all seems so silly now but at the time I knew with everything in me that those dreams would come true.

Life has a way of taking you down a road you never planned, to a destination you never would have chosen. Very few people end up where they planned to go. I’ve learned that along the way. It is a bittersweet lesson, if you know what I mean.

One thing I have learned is that God knows best and that His will always prevails. That’s a good thing. I have thanked Him many times for prayer requests He denied. I also have thanked Him for those times He gave me more than I could ever have imagined.

I joke about wanting a map with detailed instructions for this life. I like things to be orderly and with a certain routine. Somehow it frees me to be more creative and more productive in my life.

What I have found is that I can’t predict the actions of others. I can’t control what happens around me and that means I really can’t control my own steps. I am forever reacting to the choices of others. Do I resent that? Yes. But I’ve reached an age when I know it’s just part of life.

This young man who dreamed such wonderful dreams will likely learn that life rarely turns out the way we planned. But if we give it over to God and let Him guide our steps we will end up much wiser and happier than we ever could have imagined.