Following God's Will

How many of you enjoy working puzzles? I have brought a puzzle with me this morning called a maze. Each of you will get one of these puzzles to solve. To solve this puzzle, you take your pencil and start right up here where it says, "start," and you try to find an open path in the puzzle that will lead you all the way to where it says, "finish." Of course, you can't cross through any lines. That would be too easy! A puzzle like this can be very difficult -- and sometimes it can be pretty frustrating. Traveling through this maze, you will often have to change the direction you are going. You may often find that the path you have chosen leads you to a dead end. When this happens, you just have to back up and start again. When the puzzle gets too difficult, you may need to ask someone to help you. Even though finding the right path that leads to the finish may be difficult, you will have a feeling of satisfaction when you finally reach your goal.

Today is the first Sunday of a new year. We are beginning the year 20xx. I believe that God has a plan for each of us for this year. He has a path that He wants us to follow and He wants us to be successful in reaching the goal that He has for us. As we face each new day of this year and try to follow the path that God wants us to follow, we may find that it is a lot like trying to solve one of these puzzles. We may often face difficult choices in deciding what God wants us to do. We may have to make frequent changes in the direction we are going. Sometimes we may find that we have made a wrong choice and we have traveled down a dead end path. When that happens, we have to back up and start over again! Following the will of God for our lives is not always easy, but there is help available. God is always there to help us if we will just ask Him to guide us. In the book of Isaiah, God told His people, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" God is still there! He is still behind us saying, "This is the way, walk in it." We just need to be sure that we are listening!

Dear Lord, as we travel through this year, we ask you to help us to follow the plan that you have for our life. When we don't know which way to turn, help us to listen for your voice as you give us direction. Amen.