Show me your ways, Lord.

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Daily Readings: Exodus 21-22, Psalm 25

Show me your ways, Lord,
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.
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.

Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

-Psalm 25:4-10

It takes a great deal of humility to pray the prayer that David wrote in Psalm 25 with sincerity. I have caught myself at many times in my life wrestling with a decision and not wanting to pray that God would show me his ways. In these moments I didn’t want to know which path God would prefer me to head down. During these instances I wanted to fall back on the fact that God gave me a brain and I wanted to use it!

He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 

The truth, in these moments, is that I typically didn’t want to turn this decision over to God because I was afraid of what the answer might be and not sure I wanted to walk down the path that I had an inkling God might send me down. I might say a quick little prayer for 30 seconds so that I could say that I did, but there was no sincere meditation upon the topic. I wasn’t turning to scripture. I didn’t really want to spend enough time in peace and quiet where God could actually place something upon my heart.

When Christian friends would ask, “Well, have you prayed about it?” I could respond with, “Yeah, you know, I have, but don’t really feel like I have gotten a clear answer.” without it being too big of a lie…right?

I imagine I am not alone in this.

This doesn’t just apply to big decisions. God wants to walk with you all day, every day. He wants us turning to him constantly and not just in the big decisions. He wants us, like David, praying, “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

This is so challenging in our western world where we are constantly told the value of self-reliance, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, and being the captain of your own ship. We have been coached into the opposite of humility and submission.

As a missionary in the marketplace, there is no better example we can set than one of humility. There is so much power in people seeing Christians who are unafraid to live their lives in complete submission to the will of God. There is a different level of peace and tranquility surrounding a Christian who is allowing God to guide their path and consistently allowing God to show them his ways. Even in the midst of chaos and stress, they seem far less flustered. Their faith is built on the rock and not the sand.

It starts with the little decisions. I am a big believer that 98% of the time we all know the right thing to do because God’s truth is beautifully simple. When we walk with integrity and simply choose to do the next right thing, each and every day, God shows up. When we form the habit of submitting to God in these little moments throughout the day, when we are tempted to take a shortcut from God’s path, it becomes easier and easier to invite God into the big moments as well.

The good news is; life becomes so much more peaceful when we do this as well! It is easy to believe the lie that following God’s will is hard, requires discipline, is less fun, etc. And yet, I have found over and over again in my life the opposite to be true. When I am choosing to make the next right decision, to do the next right thing, life becomes so much more fun and I have so much more peace.

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. 

Today I will choose to embrace this truth and enjoy walking with him because all of his ways truly are loving and faithful.

Thought to ponder

What are areas of my life where I tend to avoid turning to God for advice? What are little decisions on a daily basis where I have not fully embraced simply doing the next right thing?