Following God's Lead

I am watching a rerun of the series Lost tonight. It is from season three. In the show Desmond sees the future. He has been able to save Charlie's life three times as a result of these visions.

There is a part of me, and probably many of us, that would like to know the future. It certainly would make it easier to make decisions if we knew what was going to happen. We would always choose the things that gave us the best outcomes.

The only problem with this rationale is that it isn't true. If it was then no one would ever choose to smoke cigarettes, take drugs, get drunk or sign up for the military. The truth is that we often feel invincible even to the point that we will not believe anything bad can happen to us. Despite all the evidence, people still make bad choices. So knowing the future would probably not make much of a difference for many of us because we would just ignore it.

Getting back to Lost, it hit me that Desmond was trying to do what God often does. Because Charlie couldn't help himself, Desmond kept interceding on Charlie's behalf. He kept getting in the way and trying to change the outcome by leading him in new directions.

Ultimately we are responsible for our choices. But I believe that God is gracious and he is involved in our lives. He tries to steer us out of harm's way. He tries to guide us into blessings. But we need to be alert and aware of his presence. If we follow God's lead, we will be blessed.