Which way to go?

A driver is helpless if he has no idea where he is going and the routes to follow, even if he has a good vehicle. It takes a driver with a sense of direction to naviate different routes and drive a vehicle to a destination. It is impossible to make progress without direction.

Direction is at the centre of life itself and God provided same for his creation. Nature displays it clearly. We see it in how the birds migrate as the seasons change, in day and night, seedtime and harvest, . We can say that direction brings order. This is God’s design for the earth.

God planted order in the natural world for the natural man and for the rest of His creation. He also provided direction for His new creation- the man in Christ. The reality of the believer is that God always leads him. Nowhere in scripture, is there an outright teaching on God’s leading but we see credible examples of how men were led.

Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil – Matthew 4:1

​ Gen 12:1 KJV Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Here wesee God instruct Abraham to leave everything in his father’s how and go to a place, God’s instruction did not end there, he goes further to say “a place that I will show you”

In this instruction we can see clearly God’s leading, and how Abraham submitted himself to that leading.

The man Abraham

Abraham in his lifetime was a sojourner, each step of the way he was led by God. He was led into a journey, into a path. Abraham becoming a sojourner was a show of his faith in God’s plan.

Heb 11:13 KJV These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

The word “pilgrim” is the greek word – Parepidemos from 2 greek words Para which describes something in transit and Epidemos which is the word “stranger.”

Parepidemo translates to a foreigner who settles temporarily, the writer of Hebrew in referring to the patriarchs of old, said they acknowledged that they are temporary visitors on the earth.

Psa 39:12 KJV Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were – God taught the israelites the fact that they were in this world but strangers in it.

Abraham was led to a land God would show Him but God did not tell Abraham he had arrived at the destination nor did He put an end to his journey. This was because when God called Abraham, He did not merely call him to settle in a land but to follow His voice. Abraham learned that end of God’s leading is following His voice and fulfilling His plan.

God leads us for a reason and that reason is always a part of his plan. So God’s leading is less about results and more about following His plan. God speaks to us the same way He spoke to the patriarchs of old. And just like Abraham, we have been called to a lifetime of following God’s voice.

The Exodus

When we see the word “led” used in scriptures, it gives us a picture of the Exodus, being led out of darkness into light. The psalms recount the Exodus in Psalms 105:13-14. The wilderness experience was a show of how God leads his people.

God in the Exodus showed the children of Israel that he was with them through a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. As God led them he took care of their other needs. He provided for them, he kept them safe. When they made mistakes, he led them to the right path by the words of his prophet Moses. A stable heart that is yielded to God’s word is what God seeks.

In Exo 12:38 – we see mixed multitudes join the children of Israel as they sojourned through the wilderness. A lot of people miss God’s plan when they listen to other people. An example in scripture is Adam who listened to the devil. The mixed multitude amongst the Children of Israel led them to sin as they journeyed in the wilderness – Num 11:4 Our influences play a major role in how successful we are with following God’s plan for our life.

How does God lead us today?

Because of the complexity of man’s nature, God leads us in several ways

• ​Vision and dreams – Gen 46:2; Gen 15:1, Num 12:6, 1 Sam 3:15 In the old testament there are many examples of visions in the ministry of the prophets
• An inward witness: this is a knowing, a witness. Simply put, you just know.
• Sight, clarity
• Instructions from our Pastors and from fellow believers

How do we follow the leading of God?

As believers, we must learn to recognize the voice of God and pay attention to it. Recognizing God’s voice helps us grow in distinguishing his voice from every other voice.

How do we identify the leading of God?

The first man Adam was a natural man with ears for the things of the Spirit. the spirit. Everyone on the earth today was born to hear the voice of God. And because God is interested in the affairs of men and the things happening on the earth today, he would always speak to Man. When God speaks it aligns with his word.

In God’s leading, there is certainty, sight, clarity and direction. There is no confusion in it. When Abraham left his land, he wasn’t confused, he knew the voice of God. Heb 11:10 tells us what Abraham understood from what God had said to him, ‘For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.’ Abraham had an understanding of what the plan of God was. It was clear to him that one day God will dwell in a temple not made with human hands.

Why do people struggle with direction?

Man battles with a multiplicity of voices created by him. One of the voices man hears is the devil’s voice. It comes through the door of man’s will.

You may wonder, has God led me today? The answer is yes. How? you might ask. Well, he led you to pray and to study your bible. Did you follow His leading?

You see, the leading problem isn’t from the father but from man. The very first hindrance and resistance that God’s word meets in the heart of man is man’s will.

God’s leading may not be spectacular sometimes, but this doesn’t make it less supernatural.

Abraham wasn’t led in a spectacular way, all he had was what God had said.

Now we are clear on how the father leads us. As believers, we are not led by the flesh but by God’s spirit. When the children of Israel encountered hard times in the wilderness, God was with them through it all, leading them each day.

The wilderness represents the flesh, multiple voices, and things that lure us away from the plan of God. But in the midst of it all, God’s leading is always available to us and in the place of prayer, our sight is made sharper.

God’s focus in leading us is his direction today. If we stay with His plan today, tomorrow will be taken care of. Our responsibility today is to heed God’s leading. We will hear God’s voice when we put order in our lives, with complete trust in the fact that we are secure in his hands.

Today we walk on the earth knowing what to do all the time because God speaks to us and opens our eyes to see.

God has spoken to the believer today and speaks still everyday. What he said yesterday is still relevant for you today. This leading is a gift from the resurrection.

Rom 8:14 KJV For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

We who are God’s children don’t scurry about looking for his leading, we have it today.