Working the Plan

You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me. (Psalm 119:1-8 MSG)

We learn to 'walk steady' when we look for God's path. He gives us plenty of 'good directions', but we have to heed them in order to be certain of our course. Too many times, we choose to 'go it on our own' knowing that we are choosing a course that might just not work out well in the end. Why? We are prideful and stubborn. We think we can 'handle it', so we attempt to do it 'our way' until things don't work out, then we turn to God for help, expecting him to be our rescuer each and every time. What we hope for is to avoid the consequences of taking our own path, but our rescuer sometimes allows those consequences because he knows they will either serve as a reminder of where our pride or stubbornness will take us, or they will serve as a reminder that we need to heed his warnings quickly!

Steady steps is what we strive for, but we all stumble along the way. None of us has set course with God, following his directions one-hundred-percent of the time. We ALL slip up from time to time, needing his rescue and restoration. If we do this a lot, we might want to consider if we have really made him the Lord of our life, or if that was just another one of our 'good intentions' that end up with us doing life our own way. The pattern of God's ways is practiced - day after day, until we find ourselves choosing it over our own more often than not. Are there more 'good days' than 'self directed days' in your life? Do you choose to follow his Word and his Spirit's counsel more than choosing your own stubborn ways? If the answer to those two questions is 'yes', then you are not doing so badly in this pursuit of right living.

The very best news we can hear today is that God will never walk off and leave us to our own 'counsel' or 'path choosing'. He will not violate our will - he allows us to choose which path we will take. He won't leave us to our own devices for too long, though. He will bring conviction, drawing us back to his path as quickly as we are willing to respond. Hopefully, that choice to return won't be prolonged on our part. Hopefully, we will realize we struck out on our own somewhere alone the way and need to get back to the path he has marked out for us. We find ourselves restored, made whole, and set upright once again whenever we do. What comes next? We look back, see what caused us to take those steps away from his control, and we make a plan according to what God shows us in order to avoid doing that again. Then we WORK the plan. Just saying!