This is what the LORD says - your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: 'I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.'" - Isaiah 48:17
Today in my daily devotions, as I was reading through Isaiah, these words jumped off the page at me. I always want to know that God is teaching me and showing me the way to go. I depend on God's guidance in my life. If He is not in my actions and choices then I suffer the consequences of not following God's guidance. It may not be something horrible, but it is not always God's best for my life. I want God's best to be done in my life and I cling to verses that assure me of God's leading and guiding. It is there that I find true comfort.
"I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." - Psalm 32:8
Oh, what peace to know that God is counseling me with His loving eye on me. When I am faced with a big decision in my life, or for that matter, even a small decision, my parents have Scripturally trained me to turn to the Lord for direction and guidance. The decision can sometimes be scary, and it is in the uncertainty of the decision that I run to the Lord. It can even be a decision that I have no control over. It could be one that involves other people in my life whose choices effect me. Instead of worrying about those decisions and getting myself all worked up and sick about it, I have learned to turn to the Lord. He knows what is best for me, and He will work out His will in my life if I let Him.
Sometimes letting go and letting God be in control of what is best for me is extremely hard. There was a time that I struggled with letting God be in complete control of my life. But it was in the complete surrender of my life to God that I found peace. Those big decisions that scared me no longer disturbed me as they used to do. My first reaction is now to take it to God and let Him lead and direct in that situation.
Is it time for you too, to let God have complete control of your life? This includes not only your day to day life, but some more in-concrete aspects of your life too, like your future, your love life, and the lives of the people around you. Believe me when I say that letting God control this kind of stuff is something that is very hard to do. But it is totally worth it. What peace comes from releasing your cares to Jesus. In the words of Louisa Stead:
'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus Just to take Him at His word; Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord."
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I've proved Him o'er and o'er! Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!'