This Is the Way, Walk Ye in It

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire!  (Luke 24:32)

We talk about being led by God, but what does that look like in real life?

Dr. Gary Chapman shared one powerful example from his own life this week on Focus on the Family.

Here it is, Gary Chapman talking to Focus on the Family host Jim Daly.

“You know, Jim, when my marriage turned around, it was when I finally said to God, ‘I don’t know what else to do. This is not getting any better, and I don’t know what to do.’  And as soon as I said that, there came to my mind that visual image of Jesus on His knees, washing the feet of His disciples.  And I heard God say to me, ‘That’s the problem in your marriage. You don’t have that attitude towards your wife.’ Hit me like a ton of bricks.”

So there’s the great Dr. Gary Chapman, best selling author of The Five Love Languages and renowned marriage expert, sharing the powerful moment that changed his own marriage.  And what was it?

It was a powerful experience with God as he cried out to Him for help, and God gave him a sudden revelation.

That is one example of what being led by God looks like in real life.  In this case, he indicated that, as he prayed, God brought to his mind the image of Jesus on His knees, washing the feet of His disciples.  And then he says that God delivered these words to him, “That’s the problem in your marriage.  You don’t have that attitude towards your wife.”

And it hit him like a ton of bricks.

And that’s how God often does it.  As we seek Him, even cry out to Him, at some point He gives the direction we need.  And it can happen in a variety of ways.

Of course not every whim that pops into our head is from God.  It needs to be balanced with Scripture, and with the wisdom of other believers.

But our goal is to seek God, and learn to hear Him when He leads, whatever form that takes.

I’ve experienced it in different ways.  I won’t say it’s 100% for sure from God, but I believe it is, and it balances with Scripture and other believers.

Of course I guess thousands of times I’ve received God’s direction from Scripture, and from godly teachers and preachers and authors and friends.

Other times it has come from what I call “guiding words,” where certain words just hit me, as Dr. Chapman said, like a ton of bricks as they popped into my head.  Often that has happened during prayer, but often it has happened seemingly randomly.  I’m doing something else, then bang...guiding words come powerfully into me.

And other times I think God has led me simply by raising up a conviction inside me, “I must do this.”

I love what it says in Isaiah 30:21, in the good old King James, “...thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it...”

That is one of the great benefits of being a Christian, of being saved, of being in a right relationship with our Creator.  We can seek Him.  We can come boldly before His throne.  We have His Holy Spirit inside of us, and He will lead us in the way we should go, a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

It comes in different ways, but as believers we can bank on this fact.  One way or another, God is going to lead us.  He’s going to say, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.