Friday the 26th

Acts 16:

⁶Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. ⁷When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

Have you ever found yourself trying to do something, and it just not working out for you? Have you ever felt like you needed to be somewhere but circumstance after circumstance arises, and you just never make it? Maybe you need to quit trying to force something to happen, stop, and re-evaluate your position, and recognize that although that path might look advantageous, there is a reason that the Lord is keeping you from making that happen! Here we see Paul traveling far and wide preaching the Word, yet often he had to redirect his steps. He had to reflect, pray, and find the path that the Lord wanted him to follow. All too often today we want to forge ahead. We are taught that if we see something and we want it we go get it no matter the cost. When we forge ahead forcing, things to happen, we find that even if we succeed it is a pirique victory at best…..the victory turns out not to be worth the cost. We hang our heads and wonder why. Often the answer is as simple as we failed to ask God to direct our steps. There is a plan for each and everyone of us. The Lord moves us through our lives placing us just where we need to be, not only to accomplish what we are supposed to, but also to be in the right spot to help others achieve their goals. What we find is that people show up to help us in our time of need, and we just happen to be the answer to someone’s prayer, even if we never realize it. That is why it is so important to slow down and spend time with the Lord checking to see if we in fact are on the right course. When we kick down doors, force our way in, and create destinations, we not only rob ourselves of the opportunity to serve the Lord as he needs us to, we very well might not be where the Lord needs us to be to help someone else execute their part of God’s plan. Where I work, the owner has a saying….”the right thing, to the right place, at the right time” that is what we do……I love that mentality, because that is God’s mentality towards His people. He puts His people where He needs them, at the exact moment they need to be there. Let us each recognize that we don’t have to force our way through life. Spend time in prayer, in His word, and listen for the gentle direction He gives us daily. We each have a place to be, and make no doubt about it, we will move through this day and impact those around us. The question we are left with is are we following the Lord’s path, and listening to the Holy Spirit, or are we blazing our own trail?

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

The New Covenant Church

http://www.thenewcovenantchurch.com/

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