Don't Get Ahead of Your Guide

 

I’ve been on a few trail rides over the years. On each of them, our guide led the way and we followed along the path he traveled. We would never have considered leading the way ourselves and leaving our guide behind to follow after us.

 

Joshua led the Israelites to attack the great city of Jericho after God told him, “I have delivered Jericho into your hands” (Josh 6:2). The Israelites won a great victory when God caused the walls of the city to collapse. Joshua then decided that they should attack the little town of Ai next, but he never asked God about it. The Israelites were defeated and Joshua had to humbly approach God to find out why He was not with them in the battle. Once Joshua found out the problem and corrected it, the Israelites were able to be successful again.

 

Jesus sent His Spirit to be with us when He ascended to heaven. The Spirit is our guide in leading us along the best path for our lives. We are told, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25). We should seek the Spirit’s guidance in all that we do and then go where He leads us. We are not to go marching off on our own, expecting the Spirit to follow behind us. It’s true that the Spirit is always willing to help us get back on the right track when we turn to Him. He is like the patient GPS who will always recalculate a new path forward when we make a wrong turn. Sometimes, though, the consequences of our wrong decisions cannot be undone.

 

Make a determined effort to seek the Spirit’s guidance in the big and little areas of your life, and to try to walk in step with Him.