Kind of Different Post Today

Proverbs 16
9 The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.

Well, no anecdotal story today folks. I just want to jump right in and be real with you for a bit. Verses like this one mess with me. I don’t like them, to be very honest. If I’ve made my plans, but the Lord directs my steps, trying to rationalize and internalize it, it means that some of the roads I’ve been down, even the ones I don’t like or the ones I’m ashamed of, were directed by God.  I grew up where I grew up because God directed it.  I went to school where I went to school because God directed it.  I went down roads and paths that caused scars because God directed it.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that God has it out for you.  He doesn't.  And I'm not saying that he’s trying to make you sin by leading you down some paths. It’s written that God has no part of sin and doesn’t tempt men to sin. I’m not saying, “God made me do it.” But what I am saying is that God takes us places. He took his Son places, so why should we expect any more or less. It’s written in Matthew ch.4 how Jesus was lead into the wilderness by the spirit to be tempted by the devil.

Verses like this fly in the face of the cozy old bearded man God that just spoils us rotten, the kind of God we would like to have. No. This God is different. He directs our steps, and sometimes that means directing us to places we’d rather not go. Sometimes the places we’re lead to are places of trial and testing, and sometimes we’re lead beside the still waters that flow through fertile valleys.

I guess this verse stood out to me today because I see more and more in my own life how I try to treat God more as a doting grandfather than The Almighty, The All-Powerful, The One that We Can’t Bear to Look Upon. This verse reminds me that God, the real God, has plans, and he’ll see them through. He doesn’t leave all to chance and to the whims of men. No matter what happens today, or this week, or this month, rest assured that God is the one directing men’s steps. And we know from scripture (Romans 8:28) that in all things, God works for the good of those that love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

I don't like that I'm being directed, and sometimes to scary places.  But I can rest in the fact that God loves us.  He wants to build us up into what he had envisioned us to be at our creation, and he's working day and night to chip away at the stone we're encased in to reveal the beautiful sculpture we're meant to be.