No Deviation, No Discrepancy…Just Direction

I have had a very busy few weeks recently with quite a bit of travel in between. With a clear realization that my stress levels were building though, I have been very deliberately quiet in my spirit over the past two weeks, also very deliberately distancing myself from excessive work commitments and other engagements that would otherwise have had me continue on the spiral. I sensed that God had been trying to speak something to me but I had been a bit too busy to truly hear Him. As I pulled away from the noises of life, I knew with a certainty that I would hear in this time, a specific word from the Lord regarding my next steps. So, I walked into my room on this one day to hear Bishop Jakes on television saying repeatedly, ‘No Deviation, No Discrepancy ...Just Direction’.  I hadn’t caught the beginning of the message, and I will admit that I didn’t listen out to the end as well. That said, this phrase had struck me strongly enough that I wrote it down, somehow certain that this was God’s word for me, and for everyone I will be privileged to speak it to in this season.  

‘No Deviation, No Discrepancy ...Just Direction’. What does this mean to me? As I reflected on this, I thought about many of the steps which I have taken in times past and which I have had to retrace, sometimes under very bitter circumstances. I thought about some of the decisions I have made in times past and which as of today I am still yet to see what value they ultimately added to my life, and some of which I now know were clear time-wasters/side-trackers in my life. I thought also about some people I have invested significant portions of my time and life in, despite contrary promptings from the Holy Spirit, and which relationships at the end of the day became almost burdensome (did I say almost? Hmmm!), ended on a sour note, or just fizzled out without any sense of loss. I thought about the many ventures, activities and commitments that I have jumped into feet-first without letting my head and heart think through, much less allowing my spirit counsel. I thought about the one-too-many misdirected (not to mention abandoned) projects, ventures or decisions in my past. Can you relate Sis?

I saw very clearly that there have been many things which, save for the fact that I do not believe in wallowing in regret over the past, have clearly been deviations (thankfully temporarily) from my God-ordained path. I saw very clearly situations in my past that played out clear discrepancies between the vision God had given me for something or the other in my life, and where I had eventually found myself by my own effotrs. Truly, I realize that minus the grace of God and His supernatural ability to take every mess in our lives and turn them around for our good, to give us beauty for ashes and the oil of gladness for our sadness, we would truly be lost and most miserable of all men… literally!

I found myself in a rather lengthy consideration of the last part of this phrase: ‘Just direction’. Why does any of us need direction sis?  It’s because our lives – yours and mine are for a set purpose. We are created for the fulfillment of certain mandates that are for the glory of God our Father.  We need direction because there is an enemy out there who is working assiduously (roaring to and fro looking for whom to devour) to truncate God’s plans and purposes for our lives. It is this enemy that brings the things and creates those distractions that cause us to deviate from the path God has us on. Sadly though, methinks that we have been willing captives on one occasion too many. Sigh! Thank God for God, and for His never giving up on us. He loves us too much so He fights for us. He is our Shield, our Buckler, our Protector, our Defense, our Cover, our Victorious Warrior. Halleluyah!  

‘Just Direction’…  I sat quietly for a few minutes and allowed the Holy Spirit minister to me about this. My peace was a quiet confirmation that regardless of where I had been in times past; regardless of how much I had gotten it wrong and deviated from God’s plan for my life in times past; it all adds up to nothing because my Lord holds me in the palm of His hands and He is committed to turning everything around and using them for my good, and for His glory. Sis, He is more interested in our future on earth and our eternity with Him, than He is in our past. Because He sees our commitment to growing in Him, taking time (by His grace) to walk closer with Him, to talking more with Him, to being more attentive to His voice, to being more obedient to His will, to living more for His glory and honor… because He sees my heart, and yours as well, He is everyday committed to ensuring that the fullness of our lives are in accordance with His will and His ways, His plans and His purposes, and for His glory.

Midway through this blog post, a dear sister came to visit with me. One thing she said as we talked hit me very deeply. She shared that God had asked of her: ‘Are you being true to the vision?’ and she had been asking that question of herself daily. Wow! A simple enough question it seemed, but its also the most potent of questions ever, in my view. As she spoke, I realized that in reality, God had her share this with me that day, to ask this question of me , and inadvertently of you. God is asking of us sis, whether we are being true to the original vision He gave us for our lives, for our families, for our jobs/businesses, for our ministries? In the busyness of our days; in the many things we have signed up for; in all the plans we are so diligently making on our own; and in all the objectives, however noble, that we are working towards achieving…. Are we in all this remaining true to the vision(s) that the Lord has given to us?

And suddenly it all fit! ‘Just Direction’… Yes sis, you and I need nothing more; just direction from the Lord so that indeed we can and will remain true to the vision(s) that He has put in our hearts. This is the place of our thriving, and this is the pace of our fulfillment. This is the place of our walking according to His purpose and for His manifold glory. Every other business and striving on our part adds up to nothing if it is not in line with what God wants us to occupy ourselves with, and the purpose that He wants us to apply ourselves to achieve for His glory.

I continued to sit quietly after my sister left, very thankful for a God Who always confirms His word. I sat still with a prayer on my lips and I ask that this be your prayer too, Sis. I prayed that the Lord Who has committed to ordering my steps; the One Who says He is a light unto my feet and a lamp unto my path; the One Who says He will fill me with all knowledge and spiritual wisdom; I prayed that He will continually speak to me, that He will continually help me to hear Him with clarity, and that He will continue to give me direction for my life so that I will stay true to His vision. I prayed that He will help me to be obedient when He speaks, no matter how much my own desire is to do something else or go in another direction. I pray He will help me say ‘No’ regardless of how attractively an ‘opportunity’ might present itself, if it is not in His design for me; and to say ‘Yes’ even when the challenges seem more that I can bear, or a path is simply unattractive in my eyes. I pray that all the busyness in my life should only be directed at the fulfillment of my heavenly assignment, and that in total submission to His instruction, the Lord will direct me even unto my resting place with Him for all eternity. 

Sis, I speak into your life and mine and declare in Jesus name, that from now and into the years ahead, we will experience no more deviations; no more discrepancies; only Holy-Ghost direction, according to the express will of God the Father for our lives. The Lord will help you sis! He will help me!  

Be blessed sis……for you surely are!