Good Morning Sunshine! Give God Room To Lead You!

Joshua 3:3–4 (ESV) — “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

As Israel prepared to cross the Jordan, Joshua gave the people very specific instructions concerning the ark of the covenant. They were to watch for the ark to move and then follow it. The ark represented God’s covenant and His Presence among His people, so Israel’s movement was not to be determined simply by what the crowd was doing or by what seemed like the easiest route. God’s Presence would establish the direction, and the people were responsible for paying attention and following.

Joshua also instructed the people to maintain a distance of about two thousand cubits between themselves and the ark. This was a large nation preparing to move together, so the space gave the people a clear view of the ark as it went before them. The distance was not an invitation to become spiritually distant from God. Instead, it helped ensure that the people could see the direction in which they were being led. They were entering unfamiliar territory, and they could not afford to lose sight of what was guiding them.

Yesterday, the emphasis was on recognizing, “You have not been this way before.” Today, the emphasis is on what you do because you have not been this way before: you pay attention to the One who has. Israel did not need to crowd the ark, run ahead of it, or create its own route. They needed to see it, follow it, and trust that God’s Presence was leading them in the right direction.

There is a powerful spiritual principle here for you. Sometimes you can become so anxious to know what is next that you crowd your ability to discern God’s direction with your own plans, assumptions, fears, expectations, and opinions. You ask God to lead while simultaneously trying to determine exactly how He should do it. But when you have not been this way before, you need room to see clearly. Giving God room to lead does not mean creating distance between your heart and God. It means creating space between God’s direction and your own need to control the outcome.

Yesterday God reminded you, “You have not been this way before.” Today He is showing you how important it is to give Him room to lead when you do not know the way. There is a difference between asking God to lead you and actually allowing Him to lead. Sometimes you can pray, “Lord, order my steps,” while already having the route planned, the outcome imagined, the people selected, and the timing determined. Then, when God begins leading differently from what you expected, you wonder whether you heard Him correctly.

But Proverbs 3:5–6 tells you to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Notice that God does not tell you that you cannot have understanding. He tells you not to lean on it. Your wisdom, experience, education, previous victories, and lessons are valuable, but they were never intended to replace your dependence upon God. Sometimes the very experience that helped you in one season can cause you to assume too much in another. You think, “I’ve seen this before. I know what to do.” But God is reminding you, you have not been this way before.

You may recognize the scenery, but this is a different day. You may recognize the kind of opportunity, but this is a different assignment. You may recognize the type of battle, but you are not the same person who fought the last one. You have grown, learned, healed, matured, and crossed over. Therefore, do not automatically reach for yesterday’s instructions simply because today’s situation looks familiar. Isaiah 43:19 says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Sometimes the challenge is not that God is not moving. The challenge is that you are looking for Him to move the way He did before, and that is not what He is going to do, please give God room to do something new in you today.

There is something powerful about the space Joshua instructed Israel to maintain. That space gave them perspective. They needed to be able to see where the ark was going because if they lost sight of it, they could easily begin following the movement of the people around them instead of the Presence of God ahead of them. That can happen to you too. When you cannot clearly see what God is doing, it is easy to start watching everybody else. You see someone else’s door open and wonder whether you should walk through a similar door. You see someone moving quickly and begin questioning your own pace. You see another person’s success and start wondering whether you are behind; but someone else’s movement is not necessarily your instruction.

Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” That means there is a pace to walking with God. Sometimes He will tell you to move, and sometimes He will tell you to wait. Sometimes He will open a door quickly, and sometimes He will develop you while the door remains closed. Your responsibility is not to keep pace with everyone around you. Your responsibility is to keep in step with the Spirit.

This is why you need space. Sometimes you need space between what happens and how you respond. You need space between the invitation and your answer, between the opportunity and your commitment, between the emotion and your decision. Not everything requires an immediate yes or no. Sometimes the space between the question and the answer is exactly where discernment develops.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Stillness does not always mean doing nothing. Sometimes stillness means refusing to force what God has not told you to force. It means not manipulating an outcome because waiting makes you uncomfortable. It means resisting the urge to make something happen simply because you are tired of not knowing what happens next. There are times when faith tells you to move, but there are also times when faith tells you to be still long enough to see which way God is going, you have to give Him the room to lead.

There may be something in front of you right now that you desperately want clarity about. Perhaps you are asking, “God, should I go? Should I stay? Should I accept this? Should I release this? Should I speak? Should I remain quiet? Is this my door? Is this my assignment?” You may want God to hand you the entire map, but often He gives you enough direction for the next step. Psalm 119:105 (ESV) says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” A lamp does not necessarily illuminate miles ahead. It provides enough light for you to see where to place your feet. Sometimes God does not reveal the next ten steps because He is teaching you to trust Him with the one He has shown you, you do not have to know everything to obey something.

Perhaps God has already shown you today’s step, but you are hesitant because He has not explained tomorrow. Take the step He gave you today. Tomorrow will have its own instructions. Remember what you learned yesterday: you may have experienced many Mondays in your lifetime, but you have never experienced this Monday before. Likewise, tomorrow may have a familiar name on the calendar, but it will still require fresh grace and fresh dependence upon God.

Isaiah 30:21 gives you another beautiful promise: “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” God knows how to direct you. You do not have to live terrified that you will miss Him at every turn. Stay prayerful. Stay teachable. Stay in His Word. Pay attention. He knows how to make His direction clear, but you have to be willing to let Him interrupt your plans.

Sometimes giving God room means allowing Him to say no to something you already decided you wanted. Sometimes it means allowing Him to slow down something you wanted quickly. Sometimes it means allowing Him to send you through a door you never considered. Sometimes His direction will challenge your comfort, your timeline, and even your understanding of how you thought the promise would happen. That is why your prayer cannot simply be, “God, bless what I have decided.” It must become, “God, show me what You have decided, and give me the courage to agree with You.”

Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” What a comforting promise. God is not sending you into unfamiliar territory and then abandoning you to figure it out. He has promised to instruct you. He has promised to teach you. He has promised to counsel you. Your responsibility is to remain teachable.

This becomes especially important as God enlarges your territory. The more experience you gain, the easier it can become to depend upon what you know. But spiritual maturity is not reaching a place where you no longer need God’s direction. Spiritual maturity is recognizing how desperately you need His direction even when you think you know what to do. You have crossed over; you are no longer standing at the Jordan wondering whether you will cross. But crossing does not mean you can stop following. In fact, now that you are entering territory you have never occupied, following becomes even more important.

This is why you have been praying, “God, help me walk the fine line as I pursue the narrow path.” Matthew 7:14, reminds you that “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life.” The narrow path requires attention. You cannot walk it carelessly. You need discernment to know when an opportunity is God and when it is merely attractive. You need wisdom to recognize when resistance means “keep going” and when the Holy Spirit is saying, “Do not go this way.”

Every open door is not necessarily your door. Every invitation is not your assignment. Every connection is not a covenant connection. Every opportunity for increase is not necessarily God’s increase for you. That is why you cannot afford to let excitement become your guide, but His Presence to lead you forward and do not let fear become your guide either. Sometimes fear will tell you that waiting is wisdom when God has already said move. At other times impatience will tell you that movement is faith when God has said wait. You need the Holy Spirit to help you know the difference, that is the fine line.

You need to know when to move and when to be still, when to speak and when to remain silent, when to hold on and when to release, when to walk through the door and when to let it close. James 1:5  says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach.” So, ask Him. You do not have to pretend you know the way. There is humility in saying, “God, I don’t know.” There is freedom in admitting, “I have never been here before.” Because when you stop pretending that you know the way, you become more willing to follow the One who does.

So Sunshine, give God room today. Give Him room in your schedule. Give Him room in your decisions. Give Him room in your expectations. Give Him room in your relationships. Give Him room in your plans. Give Him room to change your mind, redirect your steps, close the wrong door, open an unexpected one, or tell you to stand still for a moment.

You do not have to rush because God is not confused about where He is taking you. You do not have to force what He has already promised to guide. You do not have to have the whole map. You simply need to keep His Presence in view. You have not been this way before, but God already knows the way. Give Him room to lead, stay focused enough to see Him, remain close enough to hear Him, and be willing enough to follow.

Let’s Pray:

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for another day and another opportunity to follow You. Thank You that I do not have to know every detail about where I am going because You already know the way. You see what I cannot see, You know what I do not know, and You are already present in places I have yet to reach. Father, teach me how to give You room to lead. Forgive me for the times I have asked You for direction while already deciding what I wanted Your answer to be. Forgive me for trying to control the route, the timing, the people, and the outcome. Today I surrender my preconceived notions about how this season is supposed to unfold. I surrender my timeline, my preferences, my expectations, and my need to understand everything before I obey. Your Word tells me to trust You with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding. Help me to do that. I thank You for the wisdom and experience You have given me, but do not allow what I know to become greater than my dependence upon You. When something looks familiar, remind me to seek fresh direction. When I think I already know what to do, keep me humble enough to ask You again. Father, quiet the noise around me and the noise within me. When my thoughts are racing, settle my mind. When my emotions become loud, help me hear Your voice above them. When other people’s opinions begin crowding my discernment, bring me back to Your Word. Help me receive godly counsel without allowing every voice to become my direction. Teach me to be still without becoming stagnant and to move without running ahead of You. Help me keep in step with Your Spirit. When You say wait, give me patience. When You say move, give me courage. When You say release, help me let go. When You say no, help me trust that Your no is not rejection. When You say yes, give me faith to walk forward even when I cannot see everything ahead. Father, Your Word says You will instruct me and teach me in the way I should go. Father, I receive Your promise today. Teach me. Correct me. Redirect me when necessary. If I am standing in front of a door that is not mine, give me peace to walk away. If I am hesitating at a door You opened, give me courage to enter. If I am trying to force something You have not assigned, loosen my grip. Give me wisdom, Lord. Your Word says that if I lack wisdom, I can ask You and You will give generously. So I am asking. Give me wisdom for my decisions, my relationships, my opportunities, my responsibilities, my ministry, my work, my family, my time, and every assignment You have placed before me. Help me distinguish between what is good and what is God for me. God, help me walk the fine line as I pursue the narrow path. Keep me from confusing fear with wisdom or impatience with faith. Help me recognize when to speak and when to remain silent, when to move and when to wait, when to hold on and when to release. I do not want excitement to lead me, fear to lead me, pressure to lead me, or people’s expectations to lead me. I want Your Presence to lead me. Father, I have crossed over, and I thank You. But I understand that crossing does not mean I no longer need Your direction. I need You even more. If You enlarge my territory, enlarge my prayer life. If You increase my responsibility, increase my wisdom. If You increase my influence, deepen my humility. If You increase the anointing upon my life, increase my surrender. Do not allow experience to replace intimacy. Keep me hungry for Your Word, sensitive to Your Spirit, and aware of Your Presence. Yesterday’s revelation cannot replace today’s relationship, and yesterday’s obedience cannot substitute for today’s yes. Today I give You room. Room to change my plans, redirect my steps, close a door I thought I needed, open one I never considered, slow me down when I am moving too quickly, and tell me to move when fear has caused me to stand still. I release the pressure to have everything figured out. Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, so give me enough light for today’s step and enough faith to take it. I trust You with what I cannot yet see. I have not been this way before, but You know the way. Keep me close enough to Your Presence to recognize Your direction, focused enough not to become distracted, humble enough to receive correction and obedient enough to follow wherever You lead. In Jesus Christ Name, Amen.

Nugget ~ Giving God room to lead does not mean creating distance between you and Him. It means making room for His direction by moving your assumptions, anxiety, impatience, and need for control out of the way. You have not been this way before, so don’t rush to create your own map. Keep His Presence in view, trust His Word, ask for wisdom, and follow the light He gives you for the next step. You don’t have to know the whole way when you are following the One who does.

Blessings…

Love, Dr. Jean…