Do you find yourself asking these questions: What is my purpose? How do I know I’m going in the right direction with my life? What is God’s will for me? Have I taken a wrong turn with my decisions – and completely missed out on what I was supposed to do?

I wish God would give us an agenda for life. A detailed schedule. Exact times when things will occur. No surprises or cancellations please. Even a rough draft of what is coming – where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to do would be nice.

Instead, God gives us a compass. We kind of know the general direction we’re to be going. We usually have no idea what surprises are lurking around the corner. Or, we might shake it every now and then and ask, “Is this thing even working???” With God’s compass – we have to trust and depend on Him.

Psalm 32 verse 8 is one of the best verses in the Bible regarding God’s promise to faithfully lead us with his compass. It states: The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” (Psalm 32:8) Let’s break down the 4 key parts of this verse:

1. Guide – God in his goodness promises to be with us. David said, “I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken.” (Psalm 16:8) A good guide is there to show you the way – not force you on the way. Several years ago, my wife and I had the opportunity to tour The Colosseum in Rome. At first, I stubbornly said, “We don’t need a tour guide – we can do it ourselves.” Talk about a terrible idea. Fortunately, the hotel front desk person convinced me otherwise. The guide we had was amazing. She used her pass to skip the long entry line. She had access to the floor of the Colosseum, she showed us wall drawings that ancient gladiators made, and we were able to view the catacombs where the warriors and animals for combat were kept. A guide can make a huge difference. She didn’t have to force, convince, or manipulate us to go. We trusted that the guide knew so much more than we did. Do we do the same with God?
2. Best Pathway – God has seen all of history, and he knows the part we are to share with him. There are good pathways for us, bad ones, and the best. The hard part is it takes trust when it looks like we’re not on the right path. Or, we deliberately go the route we know we’re not supposed to go on. Detours and delays. Stuck in the traffic of life feeling like we’re barely moving forward. The second part of the phrase is critical also – best pathway for your life. It has been said that “comparison is the thief of joy.” Your life. Not your friends, acquaintances, or co-workers. Not the people doing all of the fun and happy stuff on social media. Not celebrities who appear to have everything going for them. God guides me and you on the best pathways for our lives – even when it doesn’t make logical sense to us or we don’t give it our approval.
3. Advise – What is nice about advice is that it’s different than someone bossing us around. We have the choice whether to listen and take action or not. Family and friends give us advice. People that have “been there before.” Both young and older. Strangers. Sometimes words of warning. A few winters ago, we went snowmobiling as a family in New Mexico. Our guide (see point 1) told the entire group that we could explore the entire vast area that was before us on a wonderful white, snowy, mountain plain. Except, she reiterated, “stay away from the area on the right bank near the woods.” The snow was icy, muddy, and people had gotten stuck there. Sure enough, we were released to go explore – and this “obnoxious” family in our group headed straight for the area near the woods. And sure enough, several of their snowmobiles got stuck. And sure enough, the rest of us had to wait on them to get rescued. And sure enough, they never acknowledged doing anything wrong or apologized to the rest of us for completely ignoring the advice given in advance. It was weird. Anyway, how does God advise us? Through people, The Bible, prayers, the still small voice in our hearts, our intuition, events, circumstances, media, silence – the ways are endless. Are we looking and listening for his advice – or are we headed off to the woods to do our own thing?
4. Watch over – To wrap up this wonderful promise, we find God’s assurance he will be there watching over us. However, we can’t help but ask some tough questions: If God is watching over me, why do bad things happen? If I’m on his path being guided – why did the end result seem like a flop? Why do I sometimes feel alone and abandoned? Those are all fair questions. And realistically, we probably won’t get a satisfying answer to them in this lifetime. To me, two verses stand out that help provide that compass when thinks are not going as I had hoped: “As high as the heavens are above the earth – so high are my ways and thoughts above yours” (Isaiah 55: 9). Also, “And we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). He never promises a struggle free, charmed, all blessings and prosperity filled life. But, he has promised to always be there with us.

Conclusion – Years ago, a new pastor at the church we were attending boldly proclaimed, “God had given him a 10 year vision for the church!” “Wow, that guy most be super close to God”, I thought in my head. He must get extra visions, dreams, and revelations because of his occupation. I wish God would give me just a 10 day plan – but I’m not as spiritual as this pastor. Funny thing – that pastor took on an administrative job as a promotion in less than two years because now “God was leading him in a new direction.” So much for the 10 year vision – I guess God changed his mind? 🙂

As humans, mystery with God can either be an uncomfortable challenge or embraced. The Apostle Paul understood this tug of war. In 1 Corinthians 16: 9 he declares, “A great and effective door has been opened for me AND there are many obstacles.” From his life experiences he knew that barriers, resistance, and obstacles were validation that he was on the right path. He was at peace that God gave him a compass instead of an agenda. May we be the same.

Blessings,

Dave 🙂

https://www.amazon.com/author/davidrische