The Way of the Wildflower: Gospel Meditations to Unburden Your Anxious SoulSample

When we are in Christ and under his care, we don’t go anywhere he has not ordained for us to go. We do not experience anything he has not allowed. We don’t traverse a single valley he does not accompany us through. Our steps not only are established but are in tandem with the plans he has for us.

Friend, your crossroads is an opportunity for you to believe that Christ is King. It’s the intersection where the grace you need to believe meets the grace you have in Christ to take a step in faith. Your job isn’t to determine the will of God; it is simply to determine to trust and obey him.

When we look to God’s Word—his already stated purposes and plans for his glory and our good—and seek to obey it, we are walking in God’s will. Plain and simple. We may not grasp all of God’s ways in our limited understanding, and we may not see with God’s perspective, but your next step and mine are not as mysterious as they may feel to us right now. We are simply called to trust and obey.

So what’s the most obedient, God-honoring thing you can do with your next hour, next day, next month, next year? Start there. Do those things. Believe God will establish your steps. . . .

No, you won’t know how it will all turn out, friend. You don’t know what you don’t know. But God does. And when God promises never to leave you or forsake you, and he promises to go with you, you can be sure that your next step to obey and honor him cannot fail.

Compass plant

Silphium laciniatum

A member of the sunflower family, this tall prairie beauty gets its name because the larger leaves of the plant always face north and south. It does this to help protect itself from the harsh midday sun, but by doing so, it serves as a guide for others. It’s said that early settlers on the Great Plains used this plant to help them find their way.

Just like those pioneers couldn’t see the whole prairie or their destination, we, too, can’t see the whole picture. But we have God’s Word as our compass to reach for, to follow, and to obey—one step at a time.

Prayer

Lord, I want to follow and obey you. Please enlighten me as I seek to glorify you in all that I do. Amen.