“I know, Lord, that a person’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps.” Jeremiah 10:23
It was a nice prayer. I don’t know if you pray or not…I mean more than the emergency kind. It seems everyone, sometimes even so-called atheists, become prayer warriors in an emergency. Let a bad medical report, a near fatal accident, the total financial collapse of our world or the loss of a close loved one come and we all tend to cry out to the God we hope or believe is listening. They say there are no atheists in foxholes, and they are right. So back to the point, I was praying the other day. It wasn’t an emergency; it was an early morning chat with my Dearest Daddy.
As I was talking with Him, and that is what prayer is, I said something that prompted two things. First, it caused me to pause and second it caused me to write this Grits. I said sometime along the line of, “God, please walk with me today.” Now on the surface, doesn’t that sound nice? Doesn’t that sound appropriate? Doesn’t that sound like something we all should pray? And, on the surface, the answer would be yes, yes, and yes. But almost instantly that morning, as soon as the words left my lips, something, maybe Someone, said, “Wait, I shouldn’t ask Him to follow me…I should ask Him to help me follow Him.
You see, that’s the big truth. I realized that morning that God is not a cute little puppy that I put on leash and then lead, pull, and drag through my day. You know the picture. A person is walking down the sidewalk, and this cute little puppy dog is along for the ride—sometimes willingly and sometimes not. Regardless, the puppy is going to go where the owner takes him. Well, that is great for puppies, but it is not great, not proper nor a lot of other things when it comes to God. There is no doubt about it—He should be leading us. There is no doubt about it—He is owner not us; He is God, and we are not. He should be doing the leading and we should be doing the following.
Now there is some great news when this happens. If we allow God to lead and we are willing to follow, we will never be led astray. Our bad turns and bad pathways are eliminated, and our day, and even our life, is suddenly better, much better. While we all have difficult circumstances, even if we can’t avoid them, we can better navigate them. And that usually leads to fewer regrets and that is always a good thing.
So, today, when you pray, if you pray, why not go ahead and surrender to your proper place. Go ahead and let God be the leader and you be the follower. Go ahead and be the puppy willingly following the Master. It is something that you will not regret. Deep inside, even in our moments of resistance when we are pulling against the leash, we know that He knows best. We know that no matter what, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 