He Leadeth Me

The Lord is so good to take us where we are, to tenderly point out the areas in our life that need attention, to help us through His pruning process and with a loving hand stretch us, sometime beyond what we think we can go, forming us, refining us, growing us, correcting us, strengthening us, encouraging us, and ultimately transforming us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Life is an overwhelming journey. There are things to learn, people to meet, decisions to make, appointments to keep, places to be, thoughts to process, life to live... and hardly enough time to do it all (or so if feels)! But have you ever wondered which way to go?  

A few months ago the Lord got my attention through a small comment in a little book I was glancing through. It said this: "So often we try to ask God for direction in life, when all He wants us to do is follow Him." (Karla Dornacher) That grabbed me in a very personal way as I had just been given a responsibility that was bigger than what I thought I could handle. I had been going through a few days of anxiety and fear of the unknown, when I knelt down and released it all to the Lord: my abilities, my uncertainties, my fear of how it would all turn out in the end, how I felt that I was not adequate for the accomplishment of the job placed before me... and it was as though His loving hand reached down and touch my heart saying, "Anna, don't try to fill the shoes that I have placed before you. You just follow Me, and I will fill them through you!"

At first it was too simple to comprehend. Just following Him is all that it takes in order for His purpose to be accomplished in my life? Would He really do the rest, and I don't have to try to figure it out on my own? Oh, the joy that came when that simple truth dawned, and as time drew on I felt a burden lifted, and joyfulness returned with excitement as to what the Lord was going to do through this opportunity in my own life, and in the lives of those around! Just the simple truth of following Him.

But, let's take it a step further, so often we as Christians tend to look for evidence as to the Lord's hand moving in a direction, or we try to head out on our own, expecting that His hand will be with us, no matter where we decide to go. But, friend, His desire is not that we would have a close relationship with just His hand, but that we would draw close to Him. Not only that we would have keen enough eyes to see where He is pointing, but that we would seek His face. Not that we would be of a solid enough mindset that we could make our own decisions, but that we would know His voice. There will be times in this life when the clouds overshadow anything we can see and our surroundings are so engulfed in the fog of life that we will not be able to clearly trace His hand. That's when we must have such a close relationship with Him, knowing his face and knowing his voice, that we can feel, and therefore trust His heart. 

He is there, waiting, ready, and wanting to lead us through this journey. He knows what we face, He know our fears, our frailties, our faults and our failures. But He also knows what He can do through us if we would only allow Him to fill us with His power and enable us through His spirit. He can do the impossible through us... if we will just follow Him.  


He leadeth me, O blessed thought! 
O words with heav'nly comfort fraught!
What e're I do, where e're I be 
Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.

Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,
By waters sill, o're troubled sea,
Still 'tis His hand that leadeth me.

Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Still 'tis His hand that leadeth me.

And when my task on earth is done, 
When by Thy grace the vict'ry's won,
E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.
~ Joseph H. Gilmore, 1862 ~ 



"And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."
~ Isaiah 42:16 ~
posted by Anna

Comments

  1. I've been thinking on the along the same thoughts, Anna!
    We sang Footprints of Jesus this morning, and it meant a lot to me.
    Reading your post made me think of it again.
    Treasure the joy and peace that comes in serving Him!

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  2. I loved how you worded the fact that He will fill the shoes through you... What a peace that brings.

    ReplyDelete

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