The final part of the recipe from the key verses is the outcome if we adhere to what is being taught here. He will make our paths straight. This actually means that He will make our paths known. That fork in the road will no longer appear ominous because we not only will know which path to take but we will be properly submitted to Him to actually take it! It only takes one bad decision at one fork in the road to lead us down a path of ruin we could never have expected. King David faced that fork when he saw Bathsheba bathing. He knew the Word of God. He knew what he wanted was wrong. He knew adultery was a sin. Yet he still insisted on having it his way. It would be years before the dust settled from this decision. It cost him his kingdom and the lives of two children. His own son rebelled against him and turned the hearts of the people away from him. I am sure if he had a chance to do that decision over again he would have ignored Bathsheba. Or Samson with Delilah. Or Ananias and Sapphira lying to the Apostles. The Bible is filled with examples for us to avoid. As well as some to emulate:
So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn't worry about a thing--except what kind of food to eat! Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, and Potiphar's wife soon began to look at him lustfully. "Come and sleep with me," she demanded. But Joseph refused. "Look," he told her, "my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God." - Genesis 39: 6-9 (NLT)
This is a teenage boy refusing the sexual advances of a woman because he knows what God says on the matter! Faced with his fork, he deferred to the Lordship of God over his life. It is true that he ended up in prison because he was falsely accused but realize that God was preparing Joesph for so much more. His wilderness lasted 13 years but he then reigned over all Egypt in peace for 80 years and it all started back at the fork where he had to decide to let God be Lord or to insist on having it his way. When he saw Potiphar's wife he saw the path laid straight before him by God and he took it. That is what we need to be striving to do every day.
Because every day we will face these decisions. Life is a series of choices. I am sure we all know people who remain miserable or in bondage today because of poor choices they made decades ago. Even Christians who Christ set free stay in shackles they clamped on their own feet back at that fork they faced years ago. Beloved we must trust God with all of our heart and not think we know the answers. We must submit our entire life to His Lordship because He knows better than we do. Then the paths become smoothed out before us and we will walk under the power and authority of Jesus Christ.
Reverend Anthony Wade - November 25, 2013
