Today

Driving down the 400 on a busy Sunday night, I started hearing a strange noise coming from the back of my vehicle. I pulled over with cars shooting past just feet away, got out, and realized I had a flat tire. A tow truck pulled up behind me with lights flashing, and the driver looked at me and asked if I had a spare. I honestly did not know. I had never looked, because I had never needed it. He opened the trunk, and sure enough, there it was. Too many Christians treat the Lord the exact same way. We forge ahead with our own plans and our own wisdom, leaving God tucked quietly away in the trunk until a crisis hits and the road gets rough.

The Bible gives us a very different pattern in Proverbs 3:6, which tells us, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” To acknowledge God means to know Him personally—it is that intimate Hebrew word *yadah* where we set Him before us and refuse to take a single step without His counsel. The disciples experienced this firsthand out on the Sea of Galilee. They fought the wind and the waves all night long, toiling and rowing for three or four miles without making any headway on their own strength. But when Jesus stepped into the ship, the Bible tells us they were instantly at their destination.

It is so easy for us to lean to our own understanding. We think we have our families, our work, and our daily routines figured out, and we do not stop to pray or search the Scriptures. As Charles Spurgeon wisely noted, “The worst sort of clever men are those that know better than the Bible.” When we leave the Lord out of our daily walk, we soon find ourselves struggling against headwinds and getting nowhere fast. God does not want to be your emergency spare tire. He wants to be consulted in the everyday details, guiding your steps before the storm ever arises.

God does not just lead you into a pathway; the Hebrew word tells us He makes that path straight and level. When we trust Him with all our heart and turn away from our own cleverness, He orders our days. Let us not go our own way today, but let us lean upon the Saviour who knows the right and best way home.