Happy Monday!
I hope this finds you well and in good spirits. And if not, by the end of this reading, I hope you will be!
Can I be honest, sometimes I don’t listen to God the first time. I keep going back thinking God’s answer or instructions may change. Sometimes, He may change the way in which He says a thing, but the instructions itself never changes. I have been feeling stuck regarding a particular situation in my life and I have been praying to God to give be guidance on what to do. For the past few weeks all I heard was, “forward”. I said to myself, forward where? That’s not very clear directions. Lol.
While I was in prayer this weekend, I told God “I don’t know what to do with it”. And in Holy Ghost fashion He answered saying, “the direction is forward. I smiled, because surely God is saying, “I’ve e already told you what to do.” A recent devotion I read was even titled, “go forward bravely”. Often when we are plagued with issues in our lives and we don’t know what to do, or where to go but, if we listen and pay close attention, God has already told us what to do. Sometimes we look for grand gestures from God in situations, but God often gives us the simplest, yet subtle instructions to follow. And when we don’t follow them and we go back to Him with the same thing, and He points us back to what He told us the first time.
I would assume may be thinking if she doesn’t follow my small instructions, how will she follow big instructions. And simply, God just wants us to listen the first time.
I like this definition of direction:
Direction is defined as the management of guidance.
Forward is defined as in the direction you are traveling; onward toward a successful conclusion; moving toward the front or ahead.
Well, let me remind you as I also remind myself, the direction is forward. Psalm 32:8 says I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye on you. God has given us everything we need to live a righteous life, a whole life and a full life. The directions may seem simple and or maybe not even enough, but they are exact. They are the type of instructions that I expect from a Father that is leading His child. Forward is clear directions to move ahead, one foot in front of the other. I am reminded of when the God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt in Exodus 14:15-16 where it says, “why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.
In other words, get up and go! You have cried, you have mourned, and you have wallowed in your misery, but the time is now to go forward and take possession of what I have given you, and do what I have told you to do. The directions don’t change because of how you feel or think. Indeed, we can waste time because of disobedience or thinking certainly God has more to say to me than move forward. Honestly, forward is the best directions you can receive in any situation. I’ve learned and even still learning that there is only one way to get through and that is forward. There is only one way to reach the destination, the promise land, the land flowing with milk and honey and that is forward. You may be familiar with the term, “spinning the block” all that means is revisiting the old thing in hopes that it changed. In Isaiah 43:18 it says, “do not remember the former things, neither the things that are old.
God doesn’t want us spinning the block, revisiting the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s. God is doing a new thing, have you not perceived it. Forward is the only instructions that you need to adhere to in this season. And as far as spinning the block, we as the children of God do not return to slop. Your best is always in God’s hand. In Psalm 32:9 it says do not be like the horse or the mule which has no understanding but must controlled by a bit or bridle.
You are not a horse, nor a mule, you are a child of the Most High God, The Good Shepherd! The direction is forward so go do what God told you to do.
Be encouraged, blessings flow!