Seed Thoughts

//Lynette Hagin

Have you experienced bumps in your life? I don’t think it takes any of us very long to answer a hearty, “amen” to that question. In fact, you may be thinking, Not only do I have bumps, but huge logs are in my way. Before my husband and I moved to Oklahoma to work with my in-laws, we lived in the Dallas, Texas, metroplex. We frequently traveled the road between Dallas and Oklahoma to visit my husband’s parents.

I often slept in the car as we traveled. My standing humorous comment was, “I can always tell when we enter Oklahoma, even if I’m asleep, because I immediately feel the bumps in the road.” I didn’t realize at the time that the path God was leading us down would end up in the bumpy state of Oklahoma.

God does not always take us down smooth roads in carrying out His plan for our lives. At times we may even wonder, Am I ever going to experience a smooth ride? Sometimes the road prepared for us may not seem like a road at all, but merely a bumpy path. If we will allow God to take the steering wheel of our lives, though, He will smooth out the roughest paths and get us to the proper destination.

Many of us plug in our GPS when going somewhere, and most of the time it will get us where we want to go. However, I have plugged in an address and ended up nowhere near my destination. One time I was headed to a restaurant in Dallas. I knew how to get there, but out of habit I put the address in my GPS. Suddenly the GPS said “Turn around and head the other way.” I almost turned around even though I knew I was headed the right way. I realized my GPS was malfunctioning.

In our lives, we often pray and ask the Lord for direction. He speaks to us and starts us down the right path. But when life doesn’t go as smoothly as expected, we begin listening to the voice of the enemy, whose goal is to keep us off course. The enemy will say, “You need to turn around; you’re going the wrong way.”

It’s at these moments that we must have a firm foundation of the Word of God in our hearts to combat the conflicting directions coming from Satan. We must answer as Jesus did in the wilderness when He was tempted: “It is written” (Matt. 4:4).

One of the foundational chapters in the Bible that my husband and I established with our children was Psalm 91. On a daily basis we would make confessions with them from these verses. My husband and I still quote and confess many scriptures from this chapter every day.

I like the New Century Version of this psalm. “Those who go to God Most high for safety will be protected by the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘You are my place of safety and protection. You are my God and I trust you.’ God will save you from hidden traps and from deadly diseases. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you can hide. His truth will be your shield and protection.

“You will not fear any danger by night or an arrow during the day. You will not be afraid of diseases that come in the dark or sickness that strikes at noon. At your side one thousand people may die, or even ten thousand right beside you, but you will not be hurt. You will only watch and see the wicked punished. The Lord is your protection; you have made God Most High your place of safety.

“Nothing bad will happen to you; no disaster will come to your home. He has put his angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go. They will catch you in their hands so that you will not hit your foot on a rock. You will walk on lions and cobras; you will step on strong lions and snakes.

“The Lord says, ‘Whoever loves me, I will save. I will protect those who know me. They will call to me, and I will answer them. I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them. I will give them a long, full life, and they will see how I can save.’ ”
 
I encourage you to take hold of the hand of the Lord. He will lead you through every bumpy path you may encounter. And you will arrive safely at your destination.