“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor detest His correction;
For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.” Proverbs 3:11-12
“Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:4-5
“I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” Leviticus 26:12
The Lord has taken me to a place of such closeness to Him, and to so being able to regularly hear the voice of His Spirit speaking to me that I can hear Him say: “Don’t go down that pathway.”
He catches me heading down a particular pathway, and He speaks to me to stop me, to turn me back, to direct me back onto the pathway He wants me to walk upon. Sometimes He catches me just before I head down the wrong pathway, and He speaks to me so that I won’t even place one foot on that wrong pathway.
And He has taken me to a place of such immense and ever growing love for Him that I want to hear Him tell me not to go down a certain pathway, and I want Him to give me the strength to not go down it, or to turn back if I’ve already taken a few steps on it. He has brought me to such a place of love for Him that I want to obey Him even when my flesh is screaming, “But I want to go down that pathway! The one I have chosen.” And He has taken me to such a place where I understand – at long last – that His desire to lead me down the right pathway, His pathway, is not borne of meanness and not caring about me but is borne instead out of such a love and tenderness and mercy and care and kindness for and patience toward me that He wants me not to go down the wrong pathway because He wants me to draw ever closer to Him and to ever grow in His image walking with Him on the pathway He has chosen for me. His own pathway. His. With Him. Walking together. Walking in each other’s company. In one another’s fellowship. So close to one another that there is no gap between us. So that He is walking in me, and I in Him, joined, in His amazing love.
When God shows you you’re heading down the wrong pathway, or that you’re about to get on the wrong pathway, when He speaks to your heart that you must turn, to Him, and to walk with Him down the pathway He wants to lead you down, recognize His love for you, and yours for Him, and turn to Him, and walk, with Him. In His fellowship. Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Down the pathway of everlasting life. Through Christ. His chastening, His conviction, His correction, is it not borne of love?
Be loved by Him. Love Him in return. Walk with Him. In His love. In obedience to Him. For His name’s sake. Amen.