WEEK THREE: DETERMINATION

Last year, I was in the mountains of Colorado archery hunting for elk. It was beginning to get dark, and so I set off to walk out to where I had parked my ATV near the road. Somewhere about halfway down, I took a turn on the path that I believed was the right way….but soon found out I had gotten off the path that I had walked in on, and I was now basically having to blaze a new trail through the brush. Several times I had to push through scrub oaks and sagebrush to find an opening to allow me to keep walking. At one point though, what was under my feet gave way and I found myself tumbling down the mountain head over heels, losing my bow and being totally out of control. I don’t really know how many times I rolled, but when I finally stopped, my bow was about 10–15 feet above me and I was sitting on my heels with my knees pointed down the mountain and a wall of brush right in front of my face. Suddenly the feeling of being out of control of my situation overwhelmed me and all the negative thoughts came rushing into my brain. What if I can’t find the ATV? What if I’m hurt and can’t go on? I’m not at the top of the food chain here, so what if I encounter a bear or mountain lion?

Eventually I was able to gather myself, retrieve my bow, and continue down to where I had left the ATV. But for a few moments, that feeling of being totally out of control consumed me.  In reality, there actually was a good path that, had I stayed on it, would have been easy to travel and would have taken me straight to my ATV. But my wrong turn took me off that path and into a more perilous situation.

Life can be a lot like that. We are confident and in control, doing our thing, knowing how to get where we want to go, then suddenly we find ourselves on the wrong path. Our determination to be our own person, to make our own decisions, and to guide our own destiny steers us in the wrong direction and we can find our lives tumbling out of control.

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV) The New Living Translation says it this way, “He will show you which path to take.”

We all know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. When we submit our will to God’s will, trusting him to lead us by his Holy Spirit, the Bible tells us that he will guide us in the way to go and which path to take. Rather than taking our life into our own hands, why don’t we put it in the hands of God? Ask God what you should do. Ask God if the decision you are about to make is the right one for your life. Live a life that is Spirit-led rather than self-led.

We know that not every path we take will be straight. There will be twists and turns. There may be times that our footing gives way and we feel out of control, but God is faithful. When we submit our will to his will and allow our lives to be led by his Spirit, even when we get off the path, he will lead and guide us to where we need to be. His path is far better than anything we could have imagined on our own.