WHO’S DRIVING ANYWAY?

by Sharon Ruff

Have you ever made a foolish decision? I know I have. Many times it is because we don’t have sufficient information to make a wise choice, or we quickly make a decision only to later regret it. Proverbs 19:2 It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.

Recently, in my haste to depart from a large gathering of people, I started to jump on the nearest tram that I assumed would take me to my parked car. I noticed; however, that my friend consulted the “driver” of the tram as to the destination. Good idea! In my haste, I would have ended up at the “driver’s” destination, not mine.

Have you ever come into relationship with a person or a group only later to find out that they were “driving” in a different direction than you intended to go? How can we avoid those costly errors? Read what Paul said to the Corinthians who were struggling with who to follow: 1 Corinthians 1:12 What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." (emphasis added)

Over 20 times in the Gospels Jesus says, “follow Me.” You know that Jesus refers to us, His followers, as sheep for good reason. Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. If we make our decisions based only upon our own understanding of a situation, we run the risk of going astray. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us NOT to lean on our own understanding but to seek God’s direction in EVERY situation.

God is not withholding information from us. It is His desire that we follow after His ways, but often in our stubbornness or rebellion we disregard that small voice of the Lord: Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." God is speaking, but are we listening?

Lets pray outloud: Father, I confess the areas in my life where I been led astray but my own hasty decisions. Forgive me for those times where I have not been led by Your Spirit but been influenced by others. I take responsibility for those wrong choices. I have set my own course and disregarded Your voice. Please forgive me. I now choose to submit myself to You as my Good Shepherd, and follow You.

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

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