Moving Forward, without Moving Forward

There are times and places in our lives when we are faced with very difficult, gut-wrenching decisions. We are forced into making what seem to be life changing choices that change the direction of our lives. These decisions can create havoc in what seems to be a very sane and peaceful existence in our nice, comfortable world. It’s funny how we are so intensely focused on this one huge decision when we are confronted with so many others that can be just as important and crucial. We tend to overlook those decisions that we would rather not make, and put more emphasis on those that are easy to solve with a quick and easy fix.

I believe God is testing our faith with both the small and life changing options. In an effort to explain this particular test of faith, God puts all of the options in front of us for all of the painstaking questions that we need to resolve. He then gives us all of the advice we could ever search out in His Word. After giving us everything we need, He watches as we stumble blindly into the situation, trying to fix the problem with our own wisdom, our own knowledge. Why do we attempt to solve the world’s problems, using our diminished supply of knowledge, counting on the world’s population to back us up each and every time? We are just a bit conceited, a bit boastful maybe. This is where God would say to us that it’s time to look to His book to find what we are all searching for.

A good example of this is the book of Proverbs. In this collection of wise advice, we can find wisdom that would cover just about any situation or condition we would ever find ourselves in. Pair this with the book of Psalms, and you have a best seller. There’s nothing we could ever be confronted with that is not discussed or mentioned within the pages of these two biblical segments. It’s always the stumbling we do that amuses our great God, tripping over the very knowledge and wisdom He has so graciously provided, looking so dumbfounded all the way. This is the very thing that keeps us from moving forward. God provides us with the destiny, and the means to get there, yet we stumble and fall along the way as we try to get there by our own means, following our own route. In my personal life, I often rely on my own simple ways and move forward before realizing God has other ideas about where I need to move. The contemporary Christian music group Third Day has a new album out simply titled “Move.” The songs on this CD are all very inspiring and very insightful. In the song “What Have You Got To Lose” the words of the song call out to those who are trusting their own ability to choose, begging them to “let go of all you know, only then can life be found.”

When will we learn that we just need to give God the chance, getting out of His way, and allow Him to lead us to His kingdom? Only then will we really move forward, giving God the glory during our move.