Your posts inspire introspective thoughts….

This is so hard.

Not only do we have to stop and listen to hear what the Lord wants us to do (or rather what He is going to do for us, to us or through us) but we also have to be constantly listening to determine exactly WHEN and HOW He is going to bring these things about. I can think of countless stories both in the Bible and in my own experience where people were trying to achieve the right end but were going about in the wrong way or at the wrong time.

It seems like it would be so much easier just to get our orders and run. But we are blind men. We cannot run on our own or lean on “our own understanding”. We must trust our Guide and be in a constant state of attention, listening for directions of when to move, when to stop, exactly where we are to put our foot next.

This is so hard, because I am worse than blind–I am a blind man with the illusion of sight. I think I know where I am going but what I see are mirages, hallucinations, and deceptions. So when I am told to go and it seems like I am being told to step over the edge of a cliff or when I am told to stop when a beautiful oasis full of water seems to be just within my grasp, it is hard to trust the Guide over my own vision. And most of the time I am not even listening to the Guide, anyway—I am too caught up in the vision of my own imagination and perception to even stop long enough to get directions.

But somehow even my ignorant and vain attempts to find my way on my own are part of the plan, the process of teaching me that I am blind and what I think I see is not the Reality that only He sees, and teaching me to listen to and stay close beside my Guide, following and trusting Him no matter where He leads.