REGAINING DIRECTION IN LIFE
Psalms 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Have you ever been hunting in a blizzard or fishing and had a heavy fog roll in? Have you experienced a time when you couldn't see your way home because something was making it impossible to find your way? We've all been in similar situations... what do we do?
Several years ago John F. Kennedy Jr. flew out to sea and never returned. His last terror-filled minutes were spent not knowing up from down or left from right, frantically pulling at his plane's controls in a panicked attempt to right its deadly spiral. He had entered a hazy, foggy and dark area and he couldn't tell where he was. His instruments right in front of him were there to direct him, yet they were not used... and at that time they were the only thing that might have preserved him at that time.
John Jr, instead of flying towards safety, lost his way and flew in the wrong direction. He took his plane back out to sea and because he didn't use or trust what he had right in front of him, he lost his way and it cost him, his wife and her sister their lives.
The writer of Psalms 119 wrote to the people of God, explaining that God's Word is a trusted "compass." He compared it to a oil lamp of his day. At that time the flickering light was only bright enough to show a person his next step. The lamps were not like our lights of today, where you can see for hundreds of feet ahead. In the writer's life, God's Word was just such a lamp, providing just enough light to just lighten the path for those pursuing God. When the psalmist was wandering in the hazy, foggy, dark and chaotic path of life, he believed that God, through the guidance of His Word, would provide direction for him.
Each of us goes through dark times in life. We struggle with discouragement and even depression. We lack direction and clarity... We look for a clear path. All too often, we wait until it is almost beyond a time to straighten our path before we turn back to that compass and map that God has laid out right in front of us... the Bible.
It so comforts me to know that I can easily pick up and read GOD'S WORD! God's Word, think about that. We actually have the very words of the One that created all things. The One that knows the beginning from the end. He knew me and knew you since the beginning of time. His word is a powerful tool for us.
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us of the compass power of His Word.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
John Kennedy Jr. didn't trust the compass and instruments in front of him. He and his plane eventually went into what is known as the graveyard spiral, a violent spin that sent them smashing into the water nose first at a speed of 200 mph.
When we lose our bearings and start spiraling out of control in life, we can trust our God, our heavenly Father who gives His trustworthy Word as our compass, using it to lead us into deeper fellowship with Him.
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