George Everard, 1868
"He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation." Psalm 107:7
A General ordered a division of his army to a certain spot. Without giving his reasons, he advised them as to the route they should take. The direct route was much shorter than the circuitous one pointed out, and the captain of the division ventured to take it, contrary to the advice given him. After a while he discovered his mistake. The General had been wiser than himself. When last they had passed by that way, the little stream in the way had been easily forded, but now the mountain torrents had so swollen its waters that it had become impassable, and the soldiers had consequently to retrace their steps and take the road originally pointed out to them.
Too often the Christian has something of the same experience. He has preferred to take his own course, rather than that pointed out to him by the Great Leader whom he professes to follow — and then disappointment follows, and at length he discovers how far wiser he would have been had he more implicitly relied upon the counsel which Christ by His Word had given.
We have an example, and a very forcible one, of the danger of neglecting to seek guidance from above, in the case of Joshua and the Gibeonites. When the latter sought peace with Israel, professing to come from afar, the men hearkened to them, and asked not counsel of the Lord. Hence they were deceived. And in the reign of David, a famine came upon Israel for three years, in consequence of this league with Gibeon, and Saul's treatment of them; nor did the famine cease until seven of the sons of Saul were slain. Had but Joshua inquired of the Lord, all this evil, and much beside, would have been prevented.
And how many mistakes does the Christian make, and what a harvest of sorrow does he often reap — because he neglects to bring a matter before the Lord before he enter upon it. Perhaps he yields himself to a growing attachment for one who is not of the same mind with him in the highest matters. Or he enters upon a new position without considering first its responsibilities. Or he answers an important letter without spreading it, like Hezekiah, before the Lord. And then he finds that he cannot recede from the false step once taken, but must take the consequences as they come. Thus does the Christian often choose his own path, and finds, as an old writer has expressed it, that "children who carve for themselves are sure to cut their fingers."
But there is another way, and a yet more sinful one, of doing the same thing. If it is wrong to act without seeking direction from above — it is still worse to despise or ignore the counsel that has been graciously given.
The remnant of Israel in the days of Jeremiah besought him to make supplication to the Lord his God, that He would show them the way wherein they should walk, and the thing that they should do. They promise likewise that whatever the command is, whether it is good or whether it is difficult — that they will obey the voice of the Lord their God. After ten days Jeremiah brings back to them a message, that they shall abide in the land, and then the Lord will be with them, and save them from the hand of the King of Babylon. The guidance given was not according to the will of those who sought it; hence they refuse to believe the message, and determine to go down into Egypt. So the anger of the Lord is kindled against them, and He declares that those who go down thither shall die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence. (See Jeremiah 42 and 43.)
And is there not a parallel to this spirit, in the conduct of many professed followers of Christ? They express a desire to be guided by the will of God. They ask that their way may be made plain before them, and in the reading of God's Word they find rules of conduct which they may apply to their own case. But then comes the difficulty. An enlightened conscience points in one direction — and self-interest or self-pleasing points in another.
In the choice of a new home, in sending children to school or into the world, in visiting friends or receiving visitors, in drawing the line as to the recreation which we judge right — in all this there is room for the exercise of Christian principle; and it is to be feared that too often it is sacrificed to mere expediency, or to that which is most in accordance with our natural tastes.
But in denying self and walking in the path marked out in God's Word, you may be assured that He who knows the end from the beginning will guide you aright, giving you a quiet peace that far outweighs any present advantage that might be found in a different course, and at length making all that is painful work together for good.
