Who Determines Your Direction?

When your children are young and you have loaded the car with suitcases, your children may ask - "where are we going?" You might give a destination, a person's name, or a subject like vacation. Children can then ask many more questions such as "how will we get there, who is going to drive, or how long will it take'? Of course everyone's favorite question is "are we there yet?"

Now consider these parameters for the trip:

• You have no map.

• You have no specific destination.

• You have no timeframe.

• You have an untested means of transportation.

• You have responsibility for everyone and everything making the trip with you.

With those parameters in mind, let me ask you if you remember a man in the Bible named Noah. If you need a refresher course on Noah, open your Bible to the first book in the Bible - Genesis - and read chapters 6-9. During a day of great corruption in the world, God spoke to Noah and told him that a great flood was coming. He instructed Noah to built an ark. He gave Noah the dimensions, the number of levels, how the roof was to sit, and where the door was to be placed. He then instructed Noah regarding who could be in the ark and the varieties and numbers of animals that were to be placed in the ark. We know from the Bible that it rained for forty days and forty nights with a great flood covering the earth and that everyone not in the ark drowned.

That is an amazing moment in history. But as you read the story in the Bible did you notice what the ark did not have? It does not have any steering mechanism, no sail, and certainly no engine. Noah has no way to steer the ark or determine its direction. It is designed only to float. So who gives the ark direction? Not Noah. The guide for the ark is God who gave the instructions for its construction and its passengers. God takes the ark where He desires and enables it to safely survive the great flood. There came a day when the ark rested on dry land and all the animals and Noah's family exited safely from the ark.

As I reread the story of Noah and the ark and reflected on my own life, the question surfaced - "if God's directions are perfect, why am I so intent on trying to hold on to the full control of where I am going and what I am to be doing'? Do you ever raise that question in your own life?

Most of my life I have enjoyed being a leader. From my years as a Boy Scout and obtaining the rank of Eagle to my profession as a pastor, I have held positions and titles that call for leadership. However, leadership and control can often work in opposition to one another. As a pastor, I had a responsibility to give leadership to a people and a church as God gave the direction and instructions. However, sometimes I wanted to control the outcome rather than staying in obedience to God's directions. Those times account for the numerous mistakes that appear in my life journey.

This article is not intended to be a personal revelation of all my mistakes, but rather to be a question to all of us as to whom is giving guidance and direction to our lives. If we are trying to do this ourselves, the mistakes will begin to add up. The only one who can truly give us pure guidance is God. Maybe it is time to pull down the sail, let go of the wheel, and begin to follow the Lord in all things. Through a personal faith in Jesus and the study and obedience to His Word, our lives, like that of Noah, will find a blessed life journey that results in an eternity with the God who loves us and guides us.

So one final question - who is determining the direction of your life today?