We’ve all heard the phrase, “lead, guide and direct”. Most of the time it’s part of a prayer for ourselves or someone else wanting God to lead, guide and direct in the way we and others should go. I’ve prayed this many times. Recently, God gave me a little deeper understanding of the phrase and showed me what it might look like on the Path of Life.
Imagine a person on the Path and they’ve asked God to, “lead, guide and direct” them as they travel along, and He sends Jesus to do it. The first image I saw was of Jesus out in front saying, “Come on, follow Me and I’ll lead you in the way you should go.” “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3). Sometimes, Jesus will be out in front of us pointing us in the right direction to follow Him and maybe holding out His hand for us to take hold of to be sure we’re with Him. Lead me Lord.
The next image was the guide. How does someone guide us? Well they can stand beside us and talk to us with directions on where to turn, not to turn, when to stop, when to wait, how to avoid obstacles, etc. But sometimes, and this is what I saw, God will give us a guide, His Word. The Bible is the ultimate guide for our lives, and we must have it handy, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11). It’s best to have God’s Word memorized, in our hearts and minds so we don’t have to stop and look something up or have to ask someone else. We use YouTube videos to show us how to do some things so wouldn’t it be awesome to have God’s video instantly play in our mind to guide us when we need it? Guide me Lord.
And the last image I saw was direct. I’ve found that sometimes God wants us to take the first step into a new direction on the Path. He will tell us where to go but He might not tell us why. He will stand behind us and say, “OK child, I’m directing you to go this way and I want you to trust Me and move forward. I’ll be right here behind you.” “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21). Direct me Lord.
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will be right there with us as we travel the Path of Life to keep us going in the right direction and to accomplish their plans for us. And we know that sometimes we get off the path, led astray by the enemy, but our Master and Savior will be right there to lead, guide or direct us back to the Path. Thank You Lord!