A Path Through the Wilderness

On old chorus we used to sing says:

“My Lord knows the way through the wilderness
All I have to do is follow.
Strength for today is mine all the way
All I have to do is follow”

As a pastor, I get calls occasionally from people in panic mode over situations that seem impossible to them. It may have to do with finances, relationships or health but the dynamics of the situations are similar in nature. They need solutions that go beyond what they think they have. Generally our lives are a series of breakthroughs and we soon forget that God got us through the last one when we reach the next.

Everything in me wants to jump in and “fix” these situations for people who get impoverished by their problem. Henry Ford once said, “The only thing you can give a man without hurting him is an opportunity.” Doing things on a person’s behalf doesn’t get to the heart of the matter, which is usually an attitude issue of “just give up”. An opportunity says, “ I believe in you, you can do it. Don’t you dare give up.”

But where do I find opportunity for someone in such a hole that they don’t see light any more? It is at those moments that I must turn on the faith mode and decide if I am going to believe God or not when He promises a “Way”. Panic doesn’t work, fretting doesn’t work, tantrums don’t help, the world’s welfare system falls short, and we are left with our “last” resort (which should have been our first resort), God.

I have learned to give hurting people an opportunity to have faith in God and I have seen the good hand of God rescue them.

Try God first instead of last today. He will give you a path to follow.