There are paths, friends. Paths which seem right. Alluring roads which feel fine at first. But what if a seemingly harmless path will lead us to difficulty or even trials? What then?
Crossroads appear in a believer’s life when crucial decisions are to be made. Sometimes, both paths are a perfectly fine choice but you still must choose. Other times, only one of those paths holds the promises of God—His perfect will for your life. In those instances, how can we distinguish the right road from the wrong?
Assess Your Feelings
When perplexed or dismayed, ask God for clear direction…pray longer, because you wouldn’t want to disrupt the blessed things that God has in store for you.
What do your emotions tell you? Are you unsettled or apprehensive? That may be the very thing you need to feel—a check by the Holy Spirit BEFORE you choose. If you’re at ease with your decisions, this usually means that you’ve chosen well.
Ask yourself: If I delve into impulsive desires, who does it benefit? Me, myself and I? Will my choice bring detrimental consequences? One must consider how our choices will affect our loved ones.
Every choice has its consequences. Will your decision put a strain on your marriage? Add pressure to your already busy life? Remember, a wise choice brings peace. Ransacked emotions usually mean that the best decision wasn’t made.
Take The High Road
One upon a time I had left the straight and narrow for the disabling bent of Satan’s lies. My feet had tread upon uneven paths of enticement where deception left me bent, broken and bruised. I didn’t pray long enough—I was rash and impulsive. Friends, it cost me greatly. My choice unintentionally affected my teenage daughters, who were hardly befriended in the new territory I had chosen to plant my feet on.
Know that your final course of action may not popular—it may feel downright boring. So what? Who should we be impressing anyway? Our friends or our God? Obedience is the high road.
One day, in our heavenly places, God will show us our high-road choices, the ones made carefully, the roads that led us to a peaceful life.
Perhaps you:
· Turned down the higher-paying job offer for a shorter commute, but you were available for your children after school.
· Decided to tell him or her, “No.” And it protected your spiritual integrity.
· Avoided gossiping about a wayward friend, but you sleep well at night.
· Chose to sacrifice your own endeavor for the call of God on your spouse’s life—you realize the harvest of souls from mutual obedience.
A prayerfully-considered choice has the power to unlock a heavenly-ordained door. A door meant to be opened ONLY by YOU!
A God-given key can’t be placed into your hands if you listen to the whims and fancies of your flesh. Higher roads are heavenly roads.
Call on Your Prayer Warriors
Are there strong people of faith who can pray for you? Lean on an intercessor when important choices are to be made. The providence of God always emerges when integrity guides us.
Consider Queen Esther’s predicament. The jealous advisor Haman had wanted to destroy the faith and Godly allegiance of Mordecai her cousin. “Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children.” (See Esther 3:13).
Esther stood with two roads before her:
· Would she allow the devious schemes of Haman to persist?
· Or would she secure the safety of her people?
In her “valley of decision” moment, Queen Esther earnestly sought the face of God. Along with her prayer warriors, she fasted for three days, “I and my women will also fast as you do,” (Esther 4:16).
With cunning resolve, she and her cousin Mordecai were active players who decided well when faced with difficult options. In the end, Godly providence triumphed and Queen Esther preserved her people from destruction.
Seek God’s Word
The best choices are always found in scripture. King David asked of the Lord—so must we.
“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”— Psalm 25:4-5.
God is faithful. He is pleased by our desire for clear direction. Clarity leads to peace while confusion muddles the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
“Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself guideposts; consider well the highway, the road by which you went.” - Jeremiah 31:21
Ask God to mark the right path for your life, to be a guidepost for your feet. His way is always right. Friend, may you always discern it.
