God's Good Guidance

Read Isaiah 55:6-13

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call upon him now while he is near. Let men cast off their wicked deeds; let them banish from their minds the very thought of doing wrong! Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy upon them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon! This plan of mine is not what you would work out, neither are my thoughts the same as yours! For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yours, and my thoughts than yours. Isaiah 55: 6-9 (TLB)

Your words are a flashlight to light the path ahead of me, and keep me from stumbling. Psalms 119:105 (TLB)

As an attorney, Valerie Hays', from Oklahoma, job often involves arguing her client's case before a judge. This requires a lot of time, preparation, thought, and research. Sometimes the judge rules in her client's favor, but not always. It is disappointing when things don't go their way, but generally they must accept the judge's ruling.

Valerie thinks it is easy for us to approach prayer like an argument before a judge. When we pray, we may try to give God reasons and explanations for why our prayers should be answered a certain way. But no matter how convincing we think our arguments are, if our desires don't line up with God's will, we are not likely to get the result we want. While this may be discouraging for a time, we can trust that God's ways are higher than our ways. God has all the facts - many of which we may not be aware of. We can be assured that God's answers are always for our good. And when we trust God's direction, we always find the right path.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for your guidance. Help us trust you to lead us to the path you want us to take, in Jesus' name. Amen.