Guided by the hand of God

If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139: 9-10

Do you know God chose you to be His child long before you were born? Even after you were born, He never let his eyes off of you. Not once.  Not even if, like me, you strayed away from Him, turned aside to do your own thing, not even when that prodigal time spread into years and years of pain and regret. Even then, God's mighty hand was still guiding you, directing you gently back onto the right path.

Many things can affect the course of a ship at sea. Weather, reefs, depth of the water, wind, Waves, currents, land, pirates! etc..  If you've ever seen a map of the old trade routes, you'll quickly notice that ships could not just sail from one port to another in a straight line. Routes went according to currents and prevailing winds and often went far out of the way of their intended destination before they arrived there safe and sound.

Our lives are much like that. God has a certain path for us to follow. A starting port and a destination. And a preplanned route for us to follow in between. Yet many of us wander off course more than once in our lives. We get buffeted by the enemy's storms and end up in the middle of  nowhere, lost and alone. We enjoy the calm weather and sunshine so much that we follow it wherever it goes and end up depleted of supplies and far from our destination.  We believe the lie of an evil navigator and end up running aground and getting stuck. Or worse, our ship is broken beyond repair. 

Yet, no matter how many times we wander off course, God is busy adjusting situations and circumstances to bring us back. How does he do this? He tosses a strong wind our way to get us to make a turn. He places a reef in our way to cause us to steer in another direction. He adjusts tides and currents to gently move us down a different path. He did this for me when I strayed from Him for years. At the time I didn't realize it, but now as I look back, I see His mighty hand in situation after situation, setting the obstacles that would divert my course.. just an inch here, just an inch there.  It took years, but He finally got me to the exact place He wanted  me. The exact place where I would see Him and where I would notice that I had been on the wrong course all along. Amazing!

God is a gentleman. He never forces His will on anyone. He doesn't zap them and change their personality or desires so that they'll follow Him.  Sometimes I wish He would have done that with me! It would have spared me many wasted years of wandering off course. Maybe you have loved ones who are out upon the sea, wandering all over the place, lost and on the wrong course.  I do.  It breaks my heart. I've spent many tears in prayer over these precious souls.  Sometimes, it seems they'll never find their way back. But I'm here to tell you that God hears your prayers, and He is not sitting back and doing nothing. Every minute of every day, He is adjusting their path bit by bit, inch by inch, tossing a reef there, sending a wind here, changing a current there... so slight that you won't notice it at all. But He is working! 

And one day, you'll see that loved one, all sails full and white against the azure sky, heading toward the right path, the narrow route that leads to paradise!