A Light to My Path
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law. PROVERBS 29:18
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. PSALM 119:105
Insight
We will never make a sacrifice for God’s Kingdom when our most significant concern is our own needs and well-being. We often speak about faith, but deep down inside, we crave certainty.
Rather than yearning for certainty, we must pursue clarity. Clarity is knowing what we should do.
God’s desire for us is to build bigger faith. Sadly, what we often want is less risk. When God gives us the ‘WHAT’ and ‘WHY,’ we continually ask ‘HOW?’ Our mind begins to race over what the future holds and the thousand decisions and outcomes that might follow.
It takes us down a path where we second-guess everything and live our lives based on our circumstances and feelings.
This must change, and it begins by crafting a vision for our future. Our decisions move us either towards or away from that picture. Fear and insecurity often threaten our willingness to trust that we can become that person. We drift towards settling for immediate gratification simply because we can’t see any farther down the road. This speaks to a vision problem.
The opposite of vision is not being blind but rather being scattered. In other words, if we don’t have a picture of the person we want to become, we will be all over the map when it comes to our decision-making ability. Vision frees us from regret. Psalm 119:105 says God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
Even though we desire a colossal spotlight that illuminates the entire way, God only gives us a flashlight to enable us to see a few feet ahead. We desperately want the end of the path to be clear and in a direction we desire before we even consider moving. Yet, we fail to realize that the purpose of the trail is our formation.
Our job is to take that next right step. The proceeding steps along the path are in the future. But, we can never get there if we don’t take that next step presented to us today. As we seek His face and meditate on His Word, we become more confident in taking each step regardless of the uncertainty we might face. All God is asking is for us to be concerned about the here and now and respond to each moment according to the purpose we were designed for: to display God by having His life and heart fully formed in us.
This requires motion and movement. It begins by stewarding each moment and viewing it as an opportunity to work towards expressing God’s love to those around us.
Reflection
How does one develop a vision for the person they want to become?
Prayer
God, help me craft a vision for the person I want to become. I desire that both my words and my actions would bring You glory. May I see every decision I face in light of that vision. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.