“Along unfamiliar paths I will guide them.” Isaiah 42:16 NIV.
God is not the author of your confusion; God is the Answer.
Life is not predictable. No matter how long you’ve lived or how much you’ve experienced, you have not seen everything there is to see or been everywhere there is to be. There are twists and turns you will not foresee. When you think you have life all figured out, you will find yourself walking an unfamiliar path, again. It is easy to feel lost, unsure of which way to turn. It is easy to actually be lost, if you do not have truth to guide you. That is not to frighten you, but to make you wise. The Psalmist knew where truth is found, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105 NKJV.
Yogi Berra, renowned New York Yankee, was known for his malapropisms, such as, “I really didn’t say everything I said,” or ”You can observe a lot by watching.” When you are confused and unsure, a lot of advice is about as helpful as another of his quotes, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Life is neither the product of chance nor random choice; your life has direction and destiny. God is not the author of your confusion; God is the Answer. See 1 Corinthians 14:33 NKJV. A sovereign, all-powerful God has His hand upon your life. Of that, you can be certain. Read Psalm 32:8 NIV.
Sometimes, an unfamiliar path is just a new path taking you where God means determines. Walk it bravely, leaning on His Word for assurance and direction. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV. But at other times, life’s misdirection can be the result of poor choices; return to the more familiar path. Turn to God. See Psalm 37:23-24 NIV/Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV.
At such moments, there is One to whom you can turn, to whom you must turn. Meditate on God’s promise, “Along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.” Isaiah 42:16 NIV. “Unfamiliar paths” accurately describes many times in life. Read Psalm 18:28-30NKJV. I love my amazing wife’s spirit of adventure. Feeling lost frustrates me, but never bothers her. She defines lost as, “finding new places she hasn’t been before.” That’s how life in Christ should be lived.
The path unfamiliar to you is not unfamiliar to your God. He who “knows the end from the beginning” is aware of the circumstances that surround you now and the path that waits ahead for you. In such a time, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.’” Isaiah 30:21NKJV.
Remember Job? Job found himself on an unfamiliar path; Job also found God there, as will you. “Look, I go forward, but He is not there . . But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”Job 23:8-12 NKJV. Joyfully anticipate the moment you “will come forth as gold,” refined and reflecting Jesus.Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth , and the Life.” John 14:6 NIV. Stay close to Jesus and you are never lost, on unfamiliar paths maybe. But lost, never.
My prayer for you today is for you to know God is alongside you, wherever you walk.