This is a thought that most of us can relate to. I have heard it depicted in numerous songs, poems and e-mails. It is this:

    I am not where I thought I would be.

    I certainly am not where I was.

    However, I know where I am going and I will follow God’s lead to get there.

It brings overwhelming peace when we truly accept God’s will in our lives. It is the ability to realize, when we look at where we are, analyze the dreams we had, the plans we made, that we could have done better. However, God knew this and blessed us accordingly! It is the reflective moment we have when we realize how far we have come, how we have grown, how different we are. It is the confidence we have when we realize that God’s plan for us is an extraordinary display of His love, mercy and faithfulness.

God’s direction

Sometimes we think we know what direction to take, and we even dream about reaching our goal. Though it may be a perfectly acceptable and proper goal, what we may not realize is that God may have something else in mind. When your dream is not becoming reality, it may not be apparent that God has something better in store. This could be very discouraging. However, if we wait patiently on God and trust Him, we will realize that He always has our best interests at heart.

We think, we plan, we schedule and we write down goals and dates in our day planners. But if we leave God out of the plans, we risk missing the best God has for us. It is only when we ask God to be a part of our decisions and our daily activities that God can bless us.

In James 4:13-16, we are reminded to always seek God’s will in our lives: “Look here, you people who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil” (New Living Translation).

Sometimes, it can appear as if God isn’t directing us at all; or if He is, the compass must be broken, because we keep getting lost or deeper into troubles. It is during these times—when it is the hardest to keep God’s will as the priority in our lives—that it helps to remember that sometimes God may be proving a point. Maybe the point is being made for our benefit, maybe for someone close to us, for a perfect stranger or for Satan.

It is when our walk is not perfectly smooth and when we stumble that we learn to rely on God. When we trust God no matter what, we are telling Satan, I know your influence and your ways and I choose God. When we fall and we reach for God’s hand, spiritually we are telling Satan and the world, I know who my Provider is, who my Helper is, who loves me.

God’s love

Most of us were headed down a dangerous path. It may have been a worldly, self-centered path that follows the world’s idea of prosperity and success. Or it may have been a confused path where peace of mind was an illusion and escaping or hiding was the only option or a destructive path that was filled with anger, resentment and hostility.

God gave us His Holy Spirit to help us understand His map, the Bible, so that we can find His path, so that we can have direction in our lives. Through God’s love and mercy, we can come to Him when we are lost, when we don’t listen to His direction or when we go against His ways and He will lead us back so that we can feel His love, His gentle guiding.

God’s plan

There is a sense of empowerment when you know where you are going. Just ask anyone who has ever been lost! When you know the way, you walk with a sense of purpose. Your actions have purpose. You are driven to reach the destination. Are we living our lives as if we know where we are going?

When we go about our daily lives, are we aware of what our Savior and Elder Brother told us in John 14:2-3: “ In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (New International Version)?

Jesus didn’t say, “Yes, there are a lot of rooms there and you can stay in one.” He went to prepare a place for us, a position in His Kingdom. When a couple is expecting a baby or adopting a child, think about the care and time they put into preparing for the new family member, setting up a room, gathering the things the child will need, buying things to care for and entertain the child. Our Brother and Father are doing the same thing for us right now. Not only is He preparing for us, but He is designing our crown, determining what role we will have in God’s Kingdom. Based upon our choices in this life, our crown awaits us.

You may not know what is around the corner, but you can have assurance that if God is telling you to turn that corner, He will also be there to help you face whatever is waiting. Remember Deuteronomy 31:6: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (NIV).

Things might not have worked out the way we thought they would, and we might not be in the same place we were. But we can know where we are going and how we will get there—and that should encourage us to keep going and follow God’s lead.

Recommended reading:

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