He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. (Ps. 23:3)Part of the provision of God as my shepherd is his continual guidance. Perhaps this is the main thrust of Jesus' promise, "I will be with you, even to the very end of the age." (Mt. 28) God's guidance is part of the declaration, "I shall not be in want." (Ps.23:1) I will never want for guidance.
Often I do feel a lack of guidance, however. I feel left alone to figure it all out. Is this God leaving me? There may be times in which he wants me to make a choice with a number of things being "his will," just like I may be pleased if my kids decide to play inside or play outside. I am delighted with both.
More often I have a sense that my problem is not with God hiding, but from my own impatience. "Just tell me what to do!" I want to know the easiest way to get through life and I want to use God's omniscience to pave the way. When I do not receive the kind of guidance I want or think I need, then I ask again or look elsewhere, assuming that God has indeed abandoned me to my own devices.
God's agenda is different. He wants me to become like Jesus. He wants to have an intimate relationship with me. He wants me in the family of the heavens, with the Trinity and all the hosts that live with him. Quick and easy answers do not always fit into his purposes. Love, peace, joy, patience, and strength are not developed in my life through just being told what to do for a pain-free existence.
Although I may be overlooking his guidance, he is near and guiding me. The path he takes me on is not the path of doing it right all the time, but the path of becoming the right sort of person. God wants my heart to change and grow in love, not just for me to do the right things. The path of righteousness is, as Abraham and all other believers have found, a path of trust, of faith. Without trusting God as a caring shepherd for myself, the wandering sheep, I will never find true righteousness developing in my life. Instead I will just want to be "right."
All this is done because God is who he is. It's for his name's sake. He will not abandon me because of what he is like. He will guide me because that is what God does. He will take me on paths of true right-ness because that is what he is like. He is truth. He is right. He chooses to do it through loving trust and relationship rather than through coercion or mere command.
Lord, I find myself trying to do what is right, trying to find my way, without drawing close to you. I want answers without trust. I know because I do not wait expectantly. When I become desperate, let me learn how to wait quietly for you to find me, my Shepherd. Amen.
