Hem Me In: Praying for God to Guide
“Draw me into Yourself, guide my path, and hem me in, O God.”
I have prayed often that God would guide my steps. I see now the passivity of that prayer. Not that I won’t pray it again. I also see the value of it. It alway makes me think of Proverbs 3. We hand our path to God and dedicate our work to Him and trust that He will straighten the path. It is the prayer I have needed lately.
Left to me own, I choose the path of least resistance. Easy, care-free strolling with all the wisdom and sanctification that comes with trials sounds ideal. I want the easy path. I don’t want the messy consequences.
Committing is hard. If God could just be content with okay, that would be great. I want to pray, “God, here is my best effort. Okay, maybe not my ‘best’ best but it’s an effort. . . Just so You know, some people don’t even do that. So . . .can we call it good?”
Suffering. Dependency. Trust.
God, are these paths really necessary?
I want to be self-sufficient. I don’t want to have to relay on His sustaining power. I want to store up my manna so I can plan my own next day. But yet, I am angry and shocked to discover again and again, this is not how He sustains me.
Surrendering with a petition that God will hem me in on both sides seems to be my only hope.
While my heart begs for me to walk the simple path, my head knows that I don’t want to direct my own path. The path I am fumbling on doesn’t need to be straightened because it is the wrong one altogether. So I pray.
God, block the path to my right, block the path to my left, corner me until the only choice I have is the one before me. Please keep me from even the option of looking to the left or to the right for I will surely fail.
The Comments
Kay
Wow. Just a few moments here and I know this blog is going to be used (and already is being used) to greatly encourage. Myself included. Keep it up.
Bailey
KayThank you so much, Kay. I greatly appreciate the encouragement and am delighted to hear that you were blessed by this.
Lori | Choosing Wisdom
Beautifully said! It is always the hardest to allow our will to be swallowed up in God’s. To believe he know better than what we obviously see as the right path before us. Thank you for your wisdom!