God Up Ahead
God Up Ahead
Ever get the feeling you’re somewhere out in front of God as you move through your week?
You bump up against a rugged trial or painful heartache, and you know from Scripture that God’s going to “work all things together for good”—but somehow you have the idea He’s behind you, armed with dustpan and broom, ready to do a cleanup job on you and your problem.
Perhaps you imagine Him with a bottle of glue, standing a few paces back, ready to pick up the broken pieces of your life and put it back together again. Or you picture Him with hammer and nails, ready to follow after you and patch things up.
Ever feel that way? As though God’s principle activity in your life is to come along behind and throw you a rope after you’ve fallen headlong into an unexpected pit?
Our imaginations may conjure up that image of God, but it’s certainly not a biblical picture. God’s Word tells us over and over that the Lord goes before us, not just behind.
In Psalm 23 we’re reminded He leads us. In Psalm 25 we’re told He guides us. Psalm 139:3 (TLB) says, “You chart the path ahead of me, and tell me where to stop and rest.” In John 10, Jesus assures us the Shepherd goes “on ahead of his sheep.”
So God isn’t surprised by your trials. He doesn’t push you out ahead, backing you up with a mop bucket and a box of Band Aids. And He’s certainly not caught off guard when your path is filled with pain.
No, He leads us, stepping out ahead and blazing a straight path. You can be sure that if He’s gone ahead, He has planned every event so that it fits miraculously into a pattern for good in your life. He’ll give you the power, grace, strength, and endurance to meet every challenge.
Even today … when you’re feeling like you’re out there all alone.
Even today … as the big window pane of your circumstances cracks and shatters into a thousand jagged shards.
God is more than an emergency phone number. He’s more than a clean-up crew with hammer and nails and glue. He’s more than an insurance adjuster with a sharp pencil and a big checkbook.
He’s out in front of you … preparing, planning, going before, leading and guiding you every step of the way.