By Jane Field

This is one of my favourite challenging Scriptures. How often do I ask the Lord for His path when it comes to making decisions?  In Proverbs 8 : 1-2 it says :-

‘Does not wisdom call out?  Does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

So if wisdom is to be found at the crossroads of life, why do I so often choose not to listen and insist on going my own way?  Admittedly I usually ask the Lord when big decisions are to be made like moving house or choosing which church to go to but what about all the daily seemingly small decisions? 

The Lord is concerned about every aspect of our lives and wants to bless us in all that we do. In one version of the Bible Jeremiah 6 says ‘Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it’. How often I find myself off course because of a apparently small decision I made some time back. If I had asked the Lord it would have saved a lot of grief and effort to get back on the right path.  The Holy Spirit is with us all the time leading us into the path of blessing if we would only take note. 

I remember many years ago getting ready for a conference. I had decided the night before what I was going to wear. In the morning as I was putting in my top I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit – ‘put on the purple one’. For once I took notice. Half way through the conference the well known preacher who was taking it suddenly stopped and said ‘Will all those people wearing purple tops come forward’. I was at the front in an instant and the words I received confirmed the ministry path I should take. What a blessing! 

Learning to ask at every crossroads and then learning to hear the voice  of the Lord is a daily discipline which I often forget and just barge ahead on my own path. But when we do ask and listen our lives are blessed as we walk the path He has chosen for us, in confidence and faith that whatever happens it will all work out for good.