He Leadeth Me

I sat on the floor of my bedroom by the window. My Bible and journal beside me, I held open a copy of Oswald Chambers’s My Utmost for His Highest, staring at the words and deep in thought. My head seemed to stage a track competition between life’s mysteries and mankind’s futile attempts at solving them –kind of like in all those Nancy Drew novels I had adventured myself during my middle and high school years. It’s easy to get lost in the details, to focus on what I want to see, to shy away from unseen fears. But, as any good sleuth like Nancy Drew would tell you, a successful investigator learns to balance the beauty of the details and the practicality of the big picture; strives for the truth while adhering to the goal; and courageously stands for the involved principles regardless of the greatness of the wonder.

“’If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you…’ –that is the way to keep going in our personal lives. Where we are placed is a matter of indifference; God engineers the goings.” Chambers’s words reminded me that all this that I call my life is not my orchestration, not my search party, and not my craft. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. But tonight Chambers also challenged me in another way: if I abide in the Lord, I can trust that what comes my way is His work. Look at what the rest of his quoted verse states:

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). Similarly, Psalm 37: 4-5 promises, “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.”

Those words are to my soul as the song of the crickets is to my ears –beautiful, quiet yet powerful, peaceful, and gentle. No, it’s not about what I do. It’s about where He leads a yielded heart, mind, and soul through this journey and how He places me right where I need to be. Lord, thank You that those who abide in You, You lead right along where they are supposed to be. You are faithful!