The Lord is Our Guide

The Lord is Our Guide

Isaiah 58:11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Introduction:?

The Lord, the creator and sustainer of the universe, promises to guide us – not just sporadically or for brief times, but continually. His goal is to meet our needs as expressed by Isaiah, and also by David in?Psalm 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. David writes further:?Psalm 25:9 The meek will he guide in judgment; and the meek will he teach his way. Psalm 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide you by my eye. 9a Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding…??He gives both provision and protection.

The witness within:

The individual has been created with body, soul, and spirit. (See I Thessalonians 5:23) But since Adam’s fall, the natural man’s spirit is dead, and thus we are dead spiritually until the new birth. Therefore Jesus said that we must be born again.?John 3:6??That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. When we receive Jesus Christ as savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. He then will guide us into all truth.?John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show thee things to come. To truly experience God’s guidance through the Holy Spirit, we must be first born again.

Trust and obey:

God will guide us step by step as we obey. Obedience to the light which we already have will bring us to more light. John 7:17 if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of God, or whether I speak of myself.??Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.?As we obey, God guides, but also He works in our hearts to change and align our desires to His plan for us.?

My goal for many years was to be a medical missionary, and especially to teach medicine to other doctors. Had I known that I would leave medicine when I came to Suriname, I might very well have never come there. However, as I obeyed the Lord in my first years in Suriname, he began to work on me, changing my desires to serve Him until I was willing to put my medical career to one side and focus on church planting, translation, teaching the Bible, and radio-TV ministries.

How God guides:

God guides through His Word, through His indwelling Holy Spirit, and through circumstances. Notice?Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. A lamp in the days of the psalm was not a powerful flashlight, but a small oil lamp with a wick. It would not shine a long distance, but would give enough light to stay on the path step by step. We often want to see far into the future – over 5 years or 10 years. But God often leads just one step at a time. When we obey one step, then he leads us to the next step.

I remember how I ended up in Suriname, South America. After I was saved and returned to the USA, at first I was faithful to Sunday services, but did not make an effort to free up my Wednesday evenings for the service then, but was frequently on call. Later, God worked on my conscience and I made a commitment to attend all Wednesday mid-week services. A few years later, while attending a midweek service, Darrell Champlin was the missionary speaker and my wife and I were called to Suriname, South America. That evening changed the entire direction of our lives, with 26 years as missionary church planters, opportunities for translation, Bible Institute teaching and radio and TV ministries, and also the life of our daughter who came with us, married and spent over 30 years in Suriname, raising nine children.?

Conclusions:

The God of the universe, who knows everything, has all power, and loves us desires to guide us personally. The first step in his guidance is salvation. After we are saved, we need to allow His word and His Holy Spirit to guide us step by step – which we call walking in the Spirit. Are you being guided by Him today?