Psalm 23:3b NLT

'He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name.'

Life is a journey filled with sights, sounds and deep learning. Sometimes I have proved to be a resistant learner, but learned I have. One lesson has been to take my hands off the steering wheel and transfer control to God. My life reminds me of Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, a journey not without inconvenience, stress and unease. That journey was dependent on God’s guidance, with Moses learning the art of leading from God’s heart and not his own.

Wilderness was not what I’d imagined as the primary landscape for my life. I’d assumed smooth, straight lines. I was ill-prepared to travel across the desert, and took quite some time to discover how to engage with God on that journey. As I embraced the reality of God’s faithfulness, I struggled first to discern and then practise the art of proving faithful to God. When all went well, I was all smiles and worship. When things grew tough, I was all questions and complaint. Yet, faithfulness is intended to create faith in its beneficiary, and so the core of my life was learning the character of faith in everyday living.

I can speak of what at the time appeared the high points along the landscape of my life; events I organised, platforms I occupied, people I met. At the time they were important, more from a sense of inner achievement they gave me. Yet, such feelings were fleeting. On reflection, I am proudest of my role as a carer, parenting a child, and being trusted by complete strangers with their own stories of confusion and pain. All other achievements, perhaps more public and noticeable, have faded and are no longer of interest to me.

QUESTION: How well are you able to navigate your life’s wilderness path?

PRAYER: Lord, even as circumstances change, you are faithful and true to lead me through them all.