Direction, far more than intention, determines destination.
That sentence basically sums up the most awesome sermon I've ever heard. Our pastor at Summit preached Saturday night on Proverbs 16:1-4 and Proverbs 4:26 and I just really felt the Lord speaking to me throughout the entire service. Apparently a lot of others did too, because everyone I know that went said it was just a really touching message that convicted their hearts to maybe examine some aspects of their lives that weren't matching up to what they were intended to be.
I would attribute good intentions to most Christians. No person with any knowledge of Christ and His great love for us consciously wants to hurt others and God. When we put our priorities above His will though, or we create idols that we value more than Him, it is easy to fall off the path. If you're not watering the flowers in your yard, and you live in Arizona, even if you really truly sincerely want to be a great gardener with a captivatingly beautiful yard...your flowers will wilt and die. Also, another way that I was thinking about it (while I was enjoying the peace and quiet this morning and RUNNING!!!) is that the trail I usually run is such a treasure for me in the middle of the hilly hilly Piedmont. It's about 2.5 miles long, pretty much flat-as-a-pancake, and paved smoothly. It goes through woods, along a little creek, and is where I go walking with my friends, take the puppies out to play, and run all by my lonesome early in the morning. I have the option of running off the trail though; there are little side paths that go toward the creek and kind of venture through the woods that look really intriguing when I've run my trail over and over. However, I know that in those deceptively pretty trees and flowers are bees and ticks, dog poop two feet off the trail that's waiting for you to have weak knees and run the grass, dead ends that lead only to the creek (which by the way, is mucky and liable to suck your nice expensive running shoes off...and is filllled with snakes), and scary people that lurk in the woods. So though my intentions may be great when I'm running, if I allow myself to get distracted by the luscious rosebuds or the adorable bunny rabbit, I will inevitably end up stepping in dog poop, going home to find ticks all over me, shoeless, and only after being released from the hospital for the snake bite I get.
God has given us the way to walk, and the choice to stay on the path that leads to Him, or to turn away from Him. The things of this world are awfully tempting sometimes, and often I struggle to discern what His will for me is. I have so many little issues that blow up and pop me in the face when I'm least expecting it, and it's a constant process of handing them over to the Lord. He is strong and loves me enough to take my burdens from me, because I know I can't handle them on my own...even when I try really really hard.
Next topic, restlessness. Get ready for some Joseph, maybe a little Esther?
Stay on the pavement.
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