Psalm 32:8. Life is a Journey

Today’s Verse: Psalm 32:8

Comfort in know God Instructs, Teaches, and Guides

With COVID numbers rising once again, it’s good to be reminded that God never takes His eyes off what is happening here on planet earth. When we seek Him with our whole heart and listen for His voice, He will instruct, teach and guide us as we make the journey in life. God initiated that journey the day of your conception and you will continue that journey until you have reached your eternal destination.

As we journey from here to there, we will find many paths that we must choose and if you listen, God will make it evident to you that path that is part of your intended journey. He will also use the paths of your journey to teach us and instruct so that He can make us more like Him. Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye.”

God Instructs

At first we might think that instructing and teaching is the same thing, but there is a difference. When you instruct someone, you’re giving them a set of tools or tasks to do something specific. For example, if I want to crochet a blanket for my sister for her birthday today, I need to follow the instructions so that the blanket takes the correct shape and pattern. If I want to assemble a piece of furniture, I need to follow the step by step directions to avoid having to take things apart and reassemble over and over again.

Whenever I don’t follow the instructions of whatever project I’m working on, I can become frustrated, even angry, and give up. Walk away. Maybe to never pick it up again. Or perhaps, as a last resort, I pick up the instructions and decide the manufacturer actually knew what they were talking about and when I follow the instructions my project turns out well.

So whatever journey God outlined and ordained for your life, He instructs us by giving us the exact tools we need to do the specific journey that was designed for us. He will never tell us to do something without giving us the skills, gifts, and abilities we need to be able to fully accomplish His plan for us. So if you are hesitant about take that first step onto the path He has placed in front of you, go ahead and take the step. You can know God will instruct you every step of the way.

God Teaches

Where instruction provides the skills, teaching is more generic. You can teach almost anything: concepts, ideas, theories, history, or what the Scripture has to say about how we should live. Teaching implies “education” which includes academics but also encompasses moral and social aspects of our development. Instruction takes the basics of what is taught and moves it to application and processes. YouTube can teach me how to crochet. It can teach me about different kinds of tools and how to use them to build furniture, but until I pick up the crochet hook or the tools and begin following a specific set of instructions what was taught in YouTube is nothing more than head knowledge. Teaching gives us the knowledge in our head but instruction moves it to action.

We can see a good example of teaching and instruction in Moses. At the burning bush, God speaks to Moses and teaches him about who he is, saying “I AM.” But once he teaches Moses, he then gives him specific instructions: “Go to Pharoh, tell him to let My people go, and then lead the people to the promised land.”

God Guides

Psalm 32:8 tells us that God guides us with His eye. He’s looking out and watching over us. He sees what we cannot see. He’s not leading us blindly along. Rather He is purposefully guiding us with the ending destination in mind.

The great thing about Moses’ life journey is that God constantly guided him. When his mother placed him in a basket to float in the Nile trying to save his life from the Pharaoh who was murdering all the baby boys, God made sure that he was found by none other than Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her own son which ensured that Moses would be raised as a prince who would learn all there was to know about Egyptian law, court etiquette, and receive the best teaching and instruction in all of Egypt. But Moses still needed more teaching and instruction to be able for God to use him for God’s plan to bring the nation of Israel out of slavery.

After Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating one of the Hebrew slaves, it was discovered and Moses fled and left Egypt. He then spent the next 40 years tending sheep but it was there that he would learn the skills he needed to shepherd God’s sheep our in the wilderness. Then when God sent Moses back to Egypt, God guided him in what to say and what to do.

Destination Preparation

God does the same today. He is a God that is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But when we allow the noise and distractions of life and we believe the lies of Satan, the still small voice of God is drowned out and it becomes difficult to hear God above the noise. So sometimes, we need to take some time out and just be still in His presence and listen (without talking) for the voice of the Holy Spirit within us. And He will guide you through the wilderness when there seems to be no way. Just listen for His instructions and His teachings – they are preparing you for the destination.

God will guide you through the wilderness when there seems to be no way. Just listen for His instructions and His teachings. They are preparing your for the destination.

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