Show me your ways, Lord, and teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God, my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:4-6)
My dad loved Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. In the 1960s, he got to know them a bit while lifeguarding in Clearwater, Florida.
After my dad died, I listened to their Greatest Hits album on repeat and got tickets to watch Frankie Valli perform later that year. (He is now 91 and still touring!)
I can’t tell you how long I’d been looking forward to that concert. Only we never made it.
My husband and I were out walking the dog that evening when it hit us both – we’d missed the concert. Never once thought about it all day, and we’d been talking about it for a long time!
My husband said, “God must have blocked it from our minds. There’s no other explanation.”
That was four years ago, and I can’t tell you how many times something has happened since then when I’ve thought: If God wanted me to do that or be there, he would’ve put it in my mind.
God’s protection comes in many forms, and often we don’t even recognize it as such, chalking it up as a fortunate coincidence or maddening inconvenience.
Maybe you missed a tee time at a favorite course or didn’t get invited back to the member/guest. Maybe you got paired up with a stranger when you expected to play with close friends.
Maybe you missed an important message that you thought could’ve led to a big opportunity.
If you’re seeking the Lord in all things, it will come to pass in his time. After all, divine appointments are often unplanned.
Jeremiah 17 reminds us that those who trust in the Lord will flourish.
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water, sending out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the mind to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.
There’s a tremendous peace that comes when we walk with God, knowing he’s guiding our steps and, if we let him, our thoughts. It takes work to walk with God, as with any relationship, and he delights in our desire to know him more.
When my husband and I pray together after Jordan goes to bed, every night he thanks God for protecting us from things we don’t even know about.
It’s a beautiful habit.
PRAYER: Father God, we thank you for preparing the way. We know that doesn’t mean we won’t face hardship or disappointment. But know that by preparing the way, you are with us, providing what we need to live according to your purpose and for your glory.