Who Do You Let Lead You?

You know those messages that you seem to hear over and over and over. Well, this post is about one such lesson that God is trying to sink into my brain. It has to do with letting go of all control and allowing Him to guide you down the river of life.

Today, was one of those days when the this particular message hit me over the head and I finally got it.  The illustration came from a John Ortberg book, “The Me I Want to Be.” I have not read the book yet and intend to do so, but my bible study teacher read an excerpt that I wanted to share with you.

Here was the illustration that John gave us regarding how we are to walk with God.  He said that he has never really danced, but, his wife Nancy wanted them to take ballroom dancing.  John obliged, wanting to please his wife.  On their first lesson, their astute instructor asked them both, “who is going to lead?”  I loved that question.  Nancy knew she needed to answer the question – for she knew she must let her husband handle the task. And the instructor asked a second question, “who will follow?”  Again, this was posed at Nancy and she had to say out loud that she would follow.

John went on further to point out to us how God asks the same of us.  Every morning as we wake up, He asks us if we want to join Him in that day’s dance. He asks us if we will surrender our will and life over to Him. He wants to know if we will let Him lead us through the day. And He wants to hear us say out loud, that no matter what, that we will follow His ways and His plan.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:4-6)

Will you follow or lead?

Things Just Seem to Pile Up

Life can get messy at times. The mess can come all at once like a ransacked house or in drips and drabs as things pile one on top of the other. Either way, they are no fun. They are hard to navigate around, they make you clumsy and are emotionally overwhelming.  A mess makes you feel uncomfortable and you just want them to go away. And more importantly, they always catch up with you if not dealt with and they won’t ever go away until something is done about them. Ugh.

I must admit I’ve caused a few messes myself in life…and not one was fun.  They did cause me to grow in character, but ouch.  Stuff was thrown all around and other people caught got up in my mess too. It wasn’t pretty.  But, thankfully, messes don’t have to last. They can become part of our past, if we bring God into the situation.

Thank goodness God is there for us when we call on Him to be our mess picker upper.  To me, He’s like that Brawny Paper Towel guy.  When I pray and ask Him to handle my mess, He swoops right in with His big hands and heart and wipes away the clutter – sometimes it just take one full swoop.  Other times, He has to come back and scrub and bit more and then a bit more until the mess is completely gone.  When the mess is cleaned up by God you can’t help but notice.  You are at peace.  You are no longer clumsy. You are not overwhelmed by the mess, but full of mercy.  It’s freedom and how God intended life with Him to be.

God's Paper Towels are Always There to Clean Any Mess

Yup, that’s my God.  Smiling down on me with the beauty of the evergreens at this back.  He’s ready at a moment’s notice to clean up any one of my spills, no matter the stench, severity, dirt, grime and size.  He’s never afraid to get His hands dirty or become involved.  He’s never too busy and he’s never in a hurry.  He is thorough and the only person who is perfect.  He is amazing.

Do you know that God?  Has He helped clean up one of your messes?  If not, He’s there for you.  All you have to do is knock.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  (Matt: 7:7-8)

I know the drill.  He’s there. So then why am I so fearful that this one time he won’t come through?  Oh me of little faith!

Talk about crazy. John Hulber of the Netherlands actually built a replica.

I am reading through the bible again this year and as such, I’m now in Genesis and so I am reading about the ark.  Man, God laid everything out for Noah from size, weight, materials and content.  He gave him the exact blueprints on how to build it.  He even gave him the vision for it. All Noah had to do was believe it and follow it.  Trust him. Be obedient.  And I know that’s what God want each of us to do too.  Trust his blueprints in our life.

Take Noah for example, he had no idea, if the world would think he was a crazy, but he didn’t care about the outcome. He did not doubt – but he followed God’s word.

¹² God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. ¹⁴ So make yourself an ark of cypress  wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. ¹⁵ This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.  ¹⁶ Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches  of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. ¹⁷ I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

²² Noah did everything just as God commanded him. Gen. 6:12-22

I’m in the same exact position right now. God is laying out for me a path for my life which is contrary to the world’s.  It’s unconventional and so that makes it a bit scary for me at the moment. But, he knows what my blueprint is and to him it’s not scary…it’s beautiful.  It’s what I was made for.  I just need to build his vision and believe.  If I follow his way, even when the floods come, I’ll be sailing above the water not under it.  And there’s no place else I’d rather be.

If this is your prayer too, I will stand with you.  Let’s follow God’s path and share in this adventure that He has created for each one of us.

Is there any barrier we can’t overcome?