Good Directions (Friday Devotional)

“All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

- Proverbs 16:2-3

As my friends and family can attest, I have a notoriously poor sense of direction. Put me on an unfamiliar route, even with a GPS, and I’m guaranteed to make at least one wrong turn. Tell me to head east and chances are I’ll go south. Give me a list of directions with more than three steps and you’ll see my eyes glaze over with the resigned knowledge that I’m not going to remember what you’re saying.

It’s for that reason that, whenever Lindsey and I are going somewhere together, she serves as my navigator—even if it’s just someplace in Waco we don’t go often. She’ll ask before we get far, “What way are you planning on going?” and when I tell her, she’ll pause, frown, and sweetly ask, “Is there a reason you’re not going to go [insert more efficient way here]?” Inevitably I realize that, despite my best intentions, her way is better than the one I had planned.

Sometimes I go her way, the better way, but sometimes I pridefully stick with my plan. In that regard my response is similar to how we all tend to respond to God’s commands and instructions. For believers, there is no question that God’s way is the best way, that if we follow Him we will spiritually prosper. But even understanding this, there are still times when we weigh what God wants versus what we want and, knowing full that His way is best, we choose our own route.

“All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes,” warns Proverbs 16:2, “but the Lord weights the spirit.” Even when we rationalize bad behavior as necessary for some greater good, even when we convince ourselves that righteous ends justify immoral means, God sees through the mist of our justifications to our hearts. And ultimately, what He finds 9 times out of 10 is not purpose but pride, not sincerity but sin.

If you want to see godly results, Scripture encourages you to pursue godly steps along the way, to “commit your work to the Lord.” When your moral compass finds its true north in culture or materialism or personal ambition, you’ll be surprised how quickly you get lost. Better then to give yourself over to the directions of Him who is not only Truth and Life, but the Way. He won’t lead you astray.