Allow The Lord to lead

Isaiah 48:17 (NLT)
17 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.

The prophet delivers to the people a gracious message for their support and comfort. God reminds them that He is their redeemer, the Holy One who has kept His promises throughout generations. As their redeemer, God is also their teacher showing them what paths of life are good for them and He leads them to those paths that they should follow. By his grace he leads them in the way of duty, by his providence he leads them in the way of deliverance.

 

 

Henry Blackaby writes in Hearing God’s Voice published by Broadman and Holman 2002: The first funeral I ever conducted was for a beautiful three-year-old. She was the first child born to a couple in our church, and the first grandchild in their extended family. Unfortunately, she was spoiled. While visiting the little girl's home one day, I observed that she loved to ignore her parents' instructions. When they told her to come, she went. When they said, "sit down," she stood up. Her parents laughed, finding her behavior cute.

One day their front gate was inadvertently left open. The parents saw their child escaping out of the yard and heading toward the road. To their horror, a car was racing down the street. As she ran out between two parked cars, they both screamed at her to stop and turn back. She paused for a second, looked back at her parents, then gleefully laughed as she turned and ran directly into the path of the oncoming car. The parents rushed their little girl to the hospital, but she died from her injuries.

As a young pastor, this was a profound lesson for me. I realized I must teach God's people not only to recognize His voice but also immediately to obey His voice when they hear it. It is life.

 

 

The lessons of life God teaches us sometimes may seem like punishment, but it is out of love that God teaches what is right and what is wrong. For if we do not understand what to do when trials and temptations come our way we may find ourselves running directly into trouble. Listen to The Lord who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.