Follow Me; The Golden Rule to walking with God

I’m one of the people who love details so much to the extent that if I don’t have them, I always end up stuck. I know I’m not alone in this. Human beings love detailed planning. We love to have clear direction and instruction of where we are going; how we will start, the path we will take and challenges on the way and how the end will be or turn out. Sometimes our lives are so well planned out that a little distraction is enough to throw us into a state of confusion. And so to avoid this, we do everything we can to ensure that everything goes as we have envisioned and planned it. This is not bad. It’s a clear indication that we love being in control. It’s purely humane to want to have everything that concerns us under control, but what happens when God shows up in the midst of it all and leads us to the unknown?

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you ~ Genesis 12:1 NKJV

Abram lived in Haran with his wife Sarai until one day, God showed up and instructed him to leave and go to a land He would show him. Abram obeyed and set himself up for a journey he knew nothing about. He trusted God to lead him wherever He wanted him to be, and God did. Abram may not have known what God was upto, but God knew the plans He had in mind for him. It’s during his journey that famine struck. It was so severe that he decided to cross over to Egypt in search of pasture and water for his livestock, but unknown to him, the presence of God “disappeared” from his life and the heavens went silent. Now, why did God’s presence “disappear” from Abram’s life just like that? Why did God decide to go silent just like that?

Allow me to give you another scripture before I talk about this.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”….Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared…. When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy ~ Matthew 2:1-2, 7, 9-10 NKJV

These wise men were on their way to worship the new born King. They had seen His star in the East and had followed this same star as it led them to the place where Jesus was. All was well until they detoured and went to answer Herod’s call. The moment they went to him, it disappeared. In other words, this small distraction in their journey caused the star to vanish, just like that. They simply lost God’s leading. But as soon as they left Herod’s place and got into the right road, it reappeared and went before them until it came and stood where the baby was.

From the above scriptures, it’s clear that those involved, at some point in their journey lost God’s direction or leading without any form of warning. What led them in such dangerous situations was distractions: famine, in Abram’s case and Herod, in the wise men’s case. These distractions led them to make decisions that were not in divine alignment to God’s will for their lives at that time and they lost His leading.

Life is a journey and just like any other kind of journey, it has a destination. In between the starting point and the destination, there is a road or path to follow. You will agree with me that every destination in life has more than one way of reaching it. Different people can take different routes and still end up in the same destination, but this is not the case with God. People have their own way of doing things and accomplishing their plans, and so does God. The difference is that His ways are not like the ways of men.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts” ~ Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV

When He takes over your life, the rule is simple, “Follow Me”. He doesn’t lead people the way they’d expect Him to. His ways are strange and mysterious and only He knows and understands them. This is why He takes the sole responsibility of leading His people just like He did during the time of Moses.

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people ~ Exodus 13:21-22

God would have given them directions and explained the route to them. They would have gone and reached Canaan within no time because I’m sure there were shortcuts and other shorter routes to Canaan, but He didn’t. He chose to lead them through strange roads, desert and wilderness. All they were expected to do was to follow Him. Their eyes were supposed to remain on Him alone and trust Him to lead them to Canaan safely.

When God says, ‘I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known…’, it means that to us, these ways and paths are going to be strange, and unless we follow God faithfully and stay focused on Him, we are bound to get lost.

God is the author and the finisher of our lives; He is the beginning and the end and He declares our end from the beginning. He knows how it’s going to start, and how it will end. He does not give people maps to use as they walk with Him; He expects them to have faith in Him, trust in Him and keep their eyes focused on Him alone. Losing the sight of Jesus is losing direction. It’s as simple as that.

It’s obvious that Abram forgot it was God who had instructed him to move. Otherwise, he would have called that same God to ask him for a solution. Even when things get tough, God will always provide a way out. In the desert and wilderness, He provided for His people. He knew there would be no water, food or pasture for their livestock there, but I haven’t come across any verse that says that they starved to death. God gave them all they needed. It should go without saying then that, wherever God leads, He provides.

Famine, hardships and challenges are inevitable, but they could be God’s way of testing your faith in Him. The enemy is a manipulator and he is capable of manipulating anything and anyone to his own advantage. When he does, he opens his own counterfeit doors and gives solutions that are purely humane and fleshly. This is one of the strategies he uses to deviate us from the plans and purposes of God.

Removing our eyes from God and focusing on how to solve our own issues, challenges and the problems we encounter on our journey with Him is a way of making Him understand that He is no longer needed. God cannot be in a place where He is the second option; He has to be the priority and the only one you have. And so when you push Him back and choose to focus on your issues, then He just withdraws. This happens because man was created with a free will which means that we can make decisions without God’s involvement. Whatever decision you make, and whichever way you choose to follow is up to you. God does not come in between a man and his decisions. He does not force people to follow Him; neither does He force them to submit to Him. What He requires from us is willing submission.

One of the key determinants therefore, on whether or not God’s presence remains with you lies in your decisions. It’s practically in your hands. This is why even though we may think that we are walking with God, it can be a great surprise to realize that He left us a long time ago. Realize that in both instances, God’s presence disappeared mysteriously because the attention was given to another or something else. God has to be at the center of your life. Let Him be the first: the real reason why you live; the air you breathe and the only one you depend on in your life.

And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers ~ John 10:4-5 NKJV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil ~ Proverbs 3:5-7 NKJV There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death ~ Proverbs 14:12 NKJV