Sometimes following the direction of the Holy Spirit may not make sense at times. I imagine that is how the Israelites felt on multiple occasions after leaving Egypt. God did not develop the plan that he had for them on the go or by the seat of his pants. He didn’t wait until they were knee deep in it and think, ‘How am I going to get all these people through?’ or ‘What should we do next?’ His plan was developed long before the need was there. As God has leads me through challenging and unknown territory, Proverbs 3:5-6 come to mind.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
In the past several months, while in prayer, I’ve seen multiple images of God moving pieces on a chess board. I see him placing his people into position for what he has next. So when my daughter tells me about a show called, The Queen’s Gambit, my curiosity is peeked. Chess is a big part of this single season tv show. (I’ll let you look it up if you’re interested. It is TV-MA for bad language and drug use. I only watched the first three episodes, so I couldn’t say how it is past that.)
Right now we have pressing matters, in many personal lives and in the nation. As I watched the show and thought about the game of chess, I was reminded of how God is the master strategist. We can be sure that if he leads us somewhere, he has a plan to bring us through. We are guaranteed that as we trust and submit, he will make our paths straight.
Is it sometimes hard to trust? I have been there at times. Honestly, I have moments now. There are things and places that he has lead me into that have made no sense. Then I see him working through them. If you are having trouble trusting, ask for his help. You can also ask for others or myself to pray with you. Ask him to help you believe and be obedient to whatever he says.
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1John 5:14-15)
He knows the chess board of our journeys like no one else. He knows what the opposition’s play will be, and he allows those plays to set us up for a victory that will bring glory to his name. I’m reminded of how it can look like an opponent has won, but then the other player comes in for the win. Stay in there. Don’t give up. Keep you eyes on him. A turn around is coming.
Melicia Evans 