One Year Bible: May 29

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

Proverbs 16:9

To read today’s portion of scripture, you can purchase The One Year Bible or find the following in your Bible:

2 Samuel 14:1-15:22
John 18:1-24
Psalm 119:97-112
Proverbs 16:8-9

I once had a conversation about this verse with another woman. She didn’t like it. She told me it made her feel like she had no choice in the matter; God was going to have His way no matter how she felt about it.

I had to disagree with her. This verse has proven to be true in my life over and over, and all I have to do is to look back at the 17-year old me, just out of high school, who was certain that I should become a lawyer. And then there was the 19-year old me, who thought I’d be a front-line fighter for feminism. And then the 23-year old me, who had thrown aside those other aspirations and wanted only to marry a boy in my church’s college-age group. I came close. But three weeks before our wedding, God opened my eyes to a life I absolutely did not want. I gave the boy back his ring, canceled everything I could cancel, and two months later I was back in college up in Bellingham, WA. Within a week I met my husband, who heard my footsteps outside his apartment door on my way to the mailbox, opened the door, and asked if I had a can opener so he could get into a can of tuna fish. And the rest is history.

Except … I thought I’d have ten children; God gave me two through adoption. When our son was two and I started writing articles about him, I thought it would be a lot of fun to write something more full-length, such as a sweet romance novel. But God steered me to an editor who helped me structure a book aimed for real-life women, full of real-life stories. After a bunch of people had told us that Dave’s voice was a perfect blend of James Taylor and Willie Nelson, I thought it would be great if we sold everything we owned and moved to Nashville so Dave could get discovered. Except God called Dave to the ministry instead.

It just goes on an on. Time after time, I umped out ahead of God with a head full of ideas and a heart bent on adventure, and each time He came alongside and gently whispered, “I’ll give you a better adventure.” And He was right, of course. His plans made mine look dingy.

I’m not afraid of God making my decisions and steering me down the right path. I’m afraid of drifting far enough to the edge that His voice fades away, and I no longer hear His direction.

So I stay close, and I don’t drift.