Change, Encouragement, Fear, God's Plan, Guidance, Humility, Music, Obedience, Planning, Relationship to Christ, Submission, Trust

Taking the First Step

We are at the beginning of a new year, and we have a clean slate in front of us.  Many people make New Year’s Resolutions to chart a new course for their lives.  As human beings, we plan our lives out, but I would venture to say that many don’t realize that with all their planning, God is the One who ultimately directs their paths. Today’s Bible Journaling verse says, “A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9 CSB)  Sometimes, God takes us on a different path than we have been traversing.  That can be daunting, especially if we don’t know where God is leading us.

I’ve been in that position.  For most of my Christian life, I have been involved in the worship team at the churches I’ve attended, either singing or playing my flute.  However, when my husband and I moved to where we live now, we began attending a very large church, and I applied to be part of the worship team.  They were very kind, but they decided not to ask me to join the worship team.  At first, I was a little hurt, but then I got to thinking, “OK God, are you trying to tell me something here?”  A few years ago, God led me to begin this blog, which at the time was a very scary thing for me to do, but I stepped out in faith and began to write it. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I figured God knew what He was doing.  Now, my journey with Him was changing again.  I wasn’t sure what God was doing, but I just thought He knew better than I did what was best for me.

In my mind, I knew God had called me all those long years ago to be involved in the music of the churches I attended, and I truly felt it was my ministry given to me by Him.  But now He was closing that door and opening another one.  More and more I began to sense that He wanted me to be more involved with my blog, sending it out more often than I was.  I hadn’t planned for writing to be part of my ministry; I was perfectly happy with my music.  Now, I just needed to take that step of changing directions.

We can plan our lives out to the last detail, but ultimately God is the One to guide us and plan our steps.  The Enduring Word website states, “We plan as we can and should, but we should never think that our ability to plan makes us lord over our lives. It is the LORD who directs our steps. Every plan we make should be held in humility before God and in surrender to His ultimate will.”  We need to remember that God’s plans are the best plans for our lives. “’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’” (Jeremiah 29:11 NASB 1995)

Taking that first step in a new direction can be scary.  But God loves us, and He only has the best for us in mind.  He sees the whole picture, while we only see a portion of the journey on which He guides us.  We must be like the Psalmist who said, “For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;” (Psalm 31:3 ESV)  As we nervously take that first step, not knowing where it will lead, we have the confidence to know that God is in the plan, and He has the best plan for our lives.  So, as each of us begins a new year, look to God for guidance and trust Him for where He is leading.

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Donna Knuth Rice

I am trying a blog for the first time in my life, and frankly, I feel like I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing! But, here goes. I work at a Christian Television network in the Correspondence Department, where I write letters and emails to our viewers, pray with them for their needs, and send materials they request. I am a Christian. I was saved at the age of 11 during a youth meeting at my church. My pastor led me to the Lord, and to say the least, my life has been an adventure. I am a widow. My late husband, Allen, passed away after 34 1/2 years of marriage. He had been sick the last seven years of his life, and it was a struggle, for him and for me. We met as part of a singing group that was affiliated with a Christian Radio station, and we sang together all through our lives together. We both worked in television and radio all through our married life, mostly for Christian stations. Besides singing I also play flute. I had the luxury of having parents who started out as music teachers...so music was in our house constantly. Some people describe me as being a loud-mouthed lime type...can't disagree with that. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count! I also have a tendency to say exactly what's on my mind...which is why I get myself in so much trouble! LOL! Trust me, that's something me and God have been working on for a very long time. I have no children here on earth, although I have a baby in heaven. My baby here is my dog Jack. He's a black lab/ chow mix. He's a big boy....thinks he's a lap dog! Can't think of much else to say. The reason I started this blog is because a few months ago in church, a guest pastor came and delivered a message, and when he asked for those of us who wanted prayer to come forward, I did. When he came to me he asked me if I did any journaling. I told him no 'cause I wasn't very good at it. He told me to start, and prophesied over me that my journal thoughts would impact other people. I wasn't sure just how I was to go about doing this. In fact, I was a little hesitant at first. I started journaling at home, and our assistant pastor's wife asked me to submit something for our Senior newsletter. I didn't the first edition, but something I had heard on Christian radio a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years, came to mind so I submitted an article. That article will be my first post. I don't claim to have all the answers, and my thoughts may seem a little "out there", but I feel God has been prodding me to do this, and so here I am. I hope what I post will bring encouragement, and "Something to Think About".

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