in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.¹

God’s will for our lives is perfect. We, however, don’t always see it the same way He does, and it helps to hear tangible stories of how God works! For example, one morning a man asked his son for a ride to an appointment that was in a different city. Happy to oblige, the son put the address into his phone’s GPS and off they went. As they drew closer to their destination, the GPS suddenly re-routed, telling them to get off on the following exit; a street that they normally wouldn’t take. Immediately the man says to his son, “Hey! What are you doing? You’re going the wrong way! If you go straight, it's quicker!â€� The son replied, “I'm just following the GPS; I have it set for the quickest route. Maybe there's something up ahead that we can't see.â€� Not wanting to be late for his appointment, the man became a little flustered. As they turned the corner, they reached a point where they were able to see the highway and the traffic that was heavily backed up due to a horrible accident. Had they stayed on the highwayâ€" the route they thought was best â€" they would have been late to where they needed to be.

This is similar to how it is with God; we think we know the best way and when God redirects us or takes our life in a direction we hadn’t anticipated, we begin to feel as if we're further behind and we're not going to get to where we need to be on time. The great thing about God is that His vision is not like our vision; we can only see to the corner, but our God can see around the corner. When we can only see the difficult climb to the top of the mountain, God sees over the mountain to the peaceful valley on the other side.

There may be something that God is directing us to; a new job, a different city, or both, and because we don't understand it or even like it, we think that we're being delayed or that maybe God is denying us something. In most circumstances, God is protecting us from something by steering us away from it. Trust God! Trust Him for His plan for your life and also trust Him to take you through the right path â€" in His time.

Suggested Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for always watching over me. Thank you for knowing better than me and for providing what is best for me. Help me to trust you in every circumstance and for every step that I take. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

1.    Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV).

Today’s Encounter was written by: Veronica B.