“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
Years back, when I was still young and fit, I set out on an 80- kilometer hike with my youth group. The hike was called the Soutpansburg Trail. The Soutpansberg is a range of mountains in far northern South Africa located in Vhembe District, Limpopo. The region of vast forests and high mountains is very beautiful. It was a tough remote hike. We had a good leader and I remember him telling us how important it was for us to keep our eyes peeled for the trail markers along the way.
Every few kilometers there would be a post along the trail with a yellow arrow painted on it and details of the distance to the next hut. If we messed a marker we’d trek for miles before realizing our error. Then we would need to backtrack until found the point where we left the trail. Not an easy feat, given the fact that every tree looks the same after one has hiked passed hundreds of similar-looking trees.
Tracking the will of God can be like trekking along a hiking trail. We need to keep our spiritual eyes peeled for every marker of God’s directions along the way. Fortunately, our hiking trail comes with a printed guide. The Bible is our map in following the trail of God’s plans. Sometimes a direction post of God’s trail for our lives will pop up in life with clear markings of the way to go but, for the most part, we need to be sure we keep the scriptures at hand to guide us along the path of life.
The Holy Bible is the great est aid you and I have at our disposal in seeking and tracking the will of God. The Scriptures are God-breathed and useful in not only directing us along the path but also training us for the great hike of life. For instance, in Proverbs, we are directed to trust in God’s plans and not lean on our own understanding. Then we are exhorted to acknowledge God in all our ways so that he will direct our paths.
So, let’s be sure, as we seek to live our lives according to the plans of God, that we look out for the little marker posts of God’s directions along the trails of life while following the guidance of his great map, the Bible. Beware, missing his markers will cause you to go off the trail. This will greatly fatigue you and cause you to need to back up in life until you return to the point where you left the track.