Day 7: Steps Directed by the Lord
Bible passage: Psalm 37:23–24; Jeremiah 29:11–13; Luke 1:26–38
What Will You Be?
Today is Tuesday 7th of January 2020. Welcome to Day 7 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. One week is complete. Well done.
From childhood we are asked what we want to be when we grow up. By our teens the question has a deadline attached. The assumption is that our future is ours to design. The Bible begins somewhere else. “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Psalm 37:23 (NLT)
A Plan That Comes from God
Three People, Three Ways
God has many ways of showing people His plan.
Joseph was given a dream. As a teenager he saw a future he could not yet understand (Genesis 37:5–9).
David was visited by a prophet. Samuel anointed him as king while he was still looking after sheep (1 Samuel 16:12–13).
Joshua was given a mentor. He spent years at the side of Moses before God called him to lead (Joshua 1:1–2).
In each case the plan started with God. None of them invented it.
When the Plan Is Tested
Each of them also found that holding on to God’s plan was hard. Joseph’s dream was followed by a pit, by slavery and by prison. David was anointed king and then spent years hiding in caves. Joshua had to step forward alone when Moses died.
A word from God does not spare us the test. Often the test comes because of the word.
No Word from God Will Fail
What kept them going? The same thing Mary heard from the angel when she was told the impossible. The word of God will never fail (Luke 1:37). She answered that she was the Lord’s servant, and asked that everything He had said would come true (Luke 1:38).
Feelings do not last, and neither do circumstances. Only what God has said can carry us over the long years between a promise and its fulfilment.
Finding the Next Step
Seek Him, and You Will Find the Plan
Through Jeremiah, God told His exiled people that He knew the plans He had for them, plans for good and not for disaster, to give them a future and a hope. In the same breath He told them how to find those plans. They would pray, and He would listen. They would look for Him wholeheartedly, and they would find Him (Jeremiah 29:11–13).
We do not find our destiny by searching for our destiny. We find it by seeking God. And even when we stumble, we will not fall, because the Lord holds us by the hand (Psalm 37:24).
Three Steps for Today
Give back the pen. Tell God that your future is His to write. Lay your own plans in front of Him.
Ask for the next step. God rarely shows us the whole road. Ask Him for one clear step, and take it.
Hold on to what He has said. Is there a promise or a calling you have let go of because the wait has been long? Pick it up again today.
Prayer for Today:
Lord, thank You that You direct my steps and delight in the details of my life. I give You my plans for this year. Show me the next step in Your plan for me. Help me to be still and to hear You clearly. When the wait is long and the test is hard, help me to hold on to Your word. I choose to follow You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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