Psalm 119:105:”Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 

Do you ever desire to just know the plans that God has for you from start to finish?  

I’ll be very honest, I do. I would like a map, bullet point system of how to handle the messy parts of life, how to rejoice in the beautiful moments, and do everything that he asks me to do.  

A month ago, at 430 in the morning as I drove to my work out class, I started to wonder about when you are driving down a dark road with no road lamps, but there is a car in front of you so your auto brights turn off and all you can see are the taillights of the car a ways in front of you. You can only see what is right in front of you, unlike if there was no car in my path my brights would be on fully and I could see the sides of the road, the impending deer, the curve I should slow down for, I would be depending on my navigation skills and my own eyes with no one leading the way but I would be able to see things in front of me.  

Then I started thinking. Isn’t that what our life with Christ is like? When we don’t follow him and we just do it our own way or the world’s way, we see the path but it’s up to us to just figure it out. Where is we were to follow the car in front of us (Christ) and we followed the speed limit and continued on the road we wouldn’t have to constantly be on the lookout for deer or the curve the car in front of us would slow for the deer and would show us when to break to prepare for the curve. 

We are driving on the dark road of life and we are either following the car in front of us or we are doing it on our own.  On the road we have our secure vehicle carrying us, headlights that illuminate the road in front of us and the tail lights in the distance reminding you where you are headed.  

And yet we keep driving. Not because we can see everything but because we can see enough.  

We want God to illuminate his plan in our journey – the destination, the detours, the obstacles, the timing, the outcome. Instead, he gives us enough light to take the next step. The headlights reveal only what is immediately before us. The distant taillights are the promise, the calling, the direction He has given. Everything in between requires trust.  

There are seasons when God could reveal more but chooses not to. Not because he doesn’t love us or is withholding from us, but because moving too far out in front of us to where our bright lights come back on might hinder our dependance on him. If we could see every obstacle ahead, we might be tempted to turn around, take control, or become consumed by fear.  

Instead God let’s us encounter things as they come.  

The deer.  

The curve.  

In those moments, that is when we discover whether the vehicle carrying us is trustworthy. Is our relationship with Christ in a place that we can grieve openly and honestly, is our relationship so trustworthy that we can be open and surrender to our savior?  

Perhaps the lesson isn’t that God promises an obstacle free road. It’s that he promises to be present for every obstacle we encounter.  

As I studied Psalm 119:105 God started to reveal himself even more.  

The lamp unto our feet – is our Bible. Giving us the knowledge to not stumble over the roots of false values and philosophies.  

I was then directed to Proverbs 6:23 “For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light and correction and instruction are the way to life” While this section of Proverbs is talking about adultery, the beginning talks about the teaching of our fathers and mothers and how we should keep our fathers commands and not forsake our mother’s teachings.  

As we think about our relationship with Christ, he gives us the commands within the Bible on how to live and the teachings we get from those commands and scriptures are the light which will guide our steps on these dark roads.  

I’ll be the first to admit I am constantly being taught and corrected and if you ask my parents, especially my mom she would tell you I always seemed to take the hard road because I never listened. She wouldn’t be wrong because there have been many parts of my life where I have refused to listen to wise advice because I wanted to see for myself. I wanted to see if God would fight to get me back and while you are not supposed to put God to the test, he does love his children and he will come find you. He will rescue you from the pits of hell if you will let him.  

As I continued to study the cross references, I was led to Psalm 19:8 “The precepts (rule/ principle) of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” The light that God gives us comes from knowing and following the commands he has given us. Which is why when we follow him we don’t have to put our bright lights on and depend on ourselves. His words will light the way in our lives.  

If you question his words, his commands, look at Psalm 12:6 “The words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.” Gold doesn’t have to be refined 7 times in actuality but the point that David is making in the Psalm is that 7 is the number of perfection or completion. God’s word is perfect, it’s complete. We just have to read it,  put it on our hearts and follow his commands.  

You may read this and think okay Morgan, that is good and well and I do believe that but how in the heck do you do that in real life?  

You don’t know my life; it’s hard.  

I get that I come from the school of hard knocks and I’ll be the first one to tell you that I have not followed all the things God has told me to do. I screw up daily, but my heart just wants to follow God and I am human. That is not an excuse for my sins and not listening but it’s a self-awareness that I won’t be perfect but like David, I can continue to have a heart that pursues God daily.  

God chose imperfect people to write the bible because the only perfect person was his son Christ Jesus. He wanted us to see that through our mistakes he would be there. He would give us guidance to help us move forward. Does he give us the full road map so we know when we need to make a u-turn, when the deer is in our path or the curve ahead. No he’s not going to. Trust me I’ve prayed for that and still haven’t gotten it. But I will tell you what I have gotten. Hard experiences that brought me closer to God in my relationship with him. He has taught me to learn to catch my negative thinking and turn it around. He has showed me the people in my life that are there for me. He has shown me how strong I am through giving me hard things to handle. The road that God has for us is not easy but it is worth it. When you let God light your way, it doesn’t get easier but it does start to mean something so much more, so much deeper.  

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the car in front of me at 430 in the morning that inspired this post. I thank you for John Knitter posting how he felt to remind me why you have it on my heart to write. Lord I thank you for the seasons of just enough and plenty. I thank you for guiding my path and I thank you for the person reading this post. Lord you have different paths for each of us and I pray that this would be our reminder from you to let you guide our steps. That your words would be forever imprinted on our hearts. That you would change us from the inside out. Lord I am not perfect and I won’t pretend to be but Lord I pray that you will be with me as I continue to pursue you with my whole heart.