“And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.” – Ezekiel 1:12
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” – John 14:6
Walking forward isn’t too difficult or scary when you can see where you are going. However, that changes a little bit when you can’t see far ahead. Things can be amplified even more if the little bit we can see seems like it may be unpleasant. All of this explains why, in life, we often have trouble walking forward as we follow the Lord. You see, Jesus doesn’t illuminate our entire path and then just send us off in the right direction. Instead He says, “Follow Me—I am the way.” He doesn’t show us much about what lies ahead. Our future looks dim and murky at best. Sometimes, with the limited vision we do have, it looks like the way He is leading us can’t be the best way. However, we are still called to follow Him step by step, day by day. That the Lord does things in this manner makes sense because it forces us to remain dependent upon Him continually. But make no mistake about it—it’s often scary.
With these doubts and fears about the future, some just choose to stop rather than move forward following behind Jesus. Others lose focus and turn off-course rather than continuing closely behind Him. This is something I’ve been thinking about in my own life. Sometimes, when I look at what I can see on the path ahead, it scares me. I’m tempted to slow things down and wait until there is more clarity. I was in that place a few weeks ago as I sat during a Wednesday night service at my church. Then, we came across Ezekiel 1:12 in which the prophet describes the attributes he observed in the heavenly cherubim in his vision. The verse hit me like a ton of bricks. It was as if I heard a faint voice in my heart saying, “Don’t stop and wait for total clarity. Move forward! Forward is where the Spirit wants you to go.” Forward doesn’t always make the most sense. It definitely doesn’t seem like the safest way. It’s unknown. Yet, there is a voice calling to each of us saying, “Follow Me—I am the way. Continue forward. I know you may be scared but you can trust Me.”
Is there an area in your life where God is calling you to move forward in faith? Join me. Let’s boldly move forward into the unknown, following closely behind Jesus. Now is not the time to stop due to fear or to wander due to unbelief. He is the way. We can trust the path He is leading us on. Forward!