How Misdirection Can Lead Us

Proverbs 16:9

The mind of a person plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

The Bible is full of examples of how this verse well describes the principle of planning and listening as God uses our circumstances to turn our feet in such a way as to put us in the place He wants us.

King David, long before he was crowned as the leader of the nation, was sent by his father to bring food to his brothers serving in the army (1 Samuel 17). His plan was to drop off the food then return home to his job of caring for the sheep that belonged to his father.

He seemed to have no clue as to what was to happen on that trip and it is likely that his parents didn’t either.

So, he obeyed what he was told and found his brothers on a battle field facing an army that was threatening to overrun all of Israel and subjugate the people.

But God was not sending him to just bring relief to his family, but to bring relief to a whole nation.

In His long term plans for this young man, God wanted to move him to the place where he could be a hero under the leading of the Spirit and David readily made himself available to what God wanted.

He could have just turned around and headed home, after all, he was too young to serve in the military. Logic said that for him to join the army was not reasonable.

It was his obedience to the leading of the Lord, always looking for what God wanted, that led him to face Goliath that day and defeat him.

Does living the life of a Christian mean you set aside your logical thinking and live by blind faith? Do you sit back and do nothing, expecting God to take care of it all?

No, the Bible has never promoted that way of living.

Instead we are to plan, act, and respond with the best of our abilities…but leave the outcome of our efforts up to the Lord who not only knows all things (including the motives of others we are interacting with) but knows what is best.

Even when God interrupts our plans, we need to relax and look around, wondering why the Lord wants us to be directed another way.

Faith means we have assurance that He will control the direction of our steps while we commit and trust all of our plans to Him.

And assurance means I can look at today with a positive attitude because He is going before me and wants to use me for the good of others and His glory.