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, CSB
In his book, Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land, author, civil rights activist, and pastor Dr. Joseph E. Lowery remarks, “Life isn’t as orderly as we would like.” Such was the discovery of the prophet Jeremiah and the Nation of Israel. This fact of life was brought to their attention as they attempted to chart the course of life without God.
Life events, circumstances, and the affairs of this nation and our world are not under our control. There will be obstacles in our path that we cannot surmount alone. Yet, the overcoming of these obstacles can change the entire course of one’s life. If you are not today where you’d hope to be, realize that life is a journey through scenes and circumstances that can only be conquered as we trust God’s guidance.
We can never direct our lives to achieve blessings without God’s help. God is the singular author and finisher of history and our faith. It is He who has set in motion the plans and purposes of our lives to fulfill His ultimate plans and purposes, for our benefit and His glory.
In Jeremiah’s prayer, he tells the LORD something that he has come to discover through experience. So just what did Jeremiah know? Jeremiah knew that we have no right to go our own way. When we go our own way without God navigating our way, we have no light to direct our steps. In this sometimes-dark mystery called life we need light from a higher direction. Also, Jeremiah knew that without being connected to the right source we have no power to succeed in our own way and in our own strength.
Let us entrust our futures into His hands willingly. Let us not seek to be independent from the Lord but depend on Him in all things, trust Him in all His ways, and always believe His Word.
During his season of inconsolable bereavement at the death of his wife Nettie Harper in childbirth, and his infant son in August 1932, Thomas Dorsey composed the hymn Take My Hand, Precious Lord to express his total dependence on God to give him light and direction through the dark maze of grief. He concludes with these words that I want to leave with you, “When the darkness appears and the night draws near, And the day is past and gone, At the river I stand, Guide my feet, hold my hand; Take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home.”
