Herod , when he had secretly called the wise men , determined from them what time the star appeared …. When they heard the king , they departed ; and behold , the star which they had seen in the East went before them , till it came and stood over where the young Child was . When they saw the star , they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy ~ Matthew 2:1-2 , 7 , 9-10 NKJV
These wise men were on a journey to go and worship the new born King . They had seen His star in the East and had come to worship Him . They had followed this same star and all was well until they detoured and went to answer Herod ' s call . The moment they went to him , it disappeared . In other words , this small distraction in their journey caused the star to vanish , just like that . They simply lost God ' s leading . But as soon as they got out of Herod ' s place and got into the right road , it reappeared and went before them until it came and stood where the baby was .
Abraham forgot it was God who had instructed him to move because if he realised it , I believe that he would have called that same God to ask him for a solution . Even when things get tough , God will always provide a way out .
In the desert and wilderness , He provided for His people . He knew there would be no water , food or pasture for their livestock there , but I haven ' t come across any verse that says that they starved to death . God gave them all they needed . It should go without saying then that , wherever God leads , He provides . Famine , hardships or challenges are inevitable , but they could be God ' s way of testing your faith in Him . The enemy is a manipulator and he is capable of manipulating anything and anyone to his own advantage . When he does , he opens his own counterfeit doors or gives solutions that are purely humane and fleshly . This is one of the strategies that he uses to deviate us from the plans and purposes of God .
From the above scriptures , it ' s clear that those involved , at some point in their journey lost God ' s direction or leading without any form of warning . What led them to such a dangerous situation was due to the fact that they got distracted : famine , in Abram ' s case and Herod , in the wise men ' s case . The distractions caused them to make decisions that were not in divine alignment to God ' s will for their lives at that time and they lost His leading .
Life is a journey and just like any other kind of journey , it has a destination . In between the starting point and the destination , there is a road to travel or to follow if you like . You will agree with me that every destination in life has more than one way of reaching it . Different people can take different routes and still end up in the same destination , but this is not the case with God . People have their own way of doing things or accomplishing their plans , and so does God , just that His ways are not like the ways of men and this is where the difference comes in .
“ For My thoughts are not your thoughts , Nor are your ways My ways ,” says the Lord . “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth , So are My ways higher than your ways , And My thoughts than your thoughts ” ~ Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV
When He takes over your life , the rule is simple , " Follow Me ". He doesn ' t lead people the way they ' d expect Him to . His ways are strange and mysterious and only He knows and understands them . This is why He takes the sole responsibility of leading His people just like He did during the time of Moses .
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way , and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light , so as to go by day and night . He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people ~ Exodus 13:21-22
God would have given them directions and explained the route to them . They would have gone and reached Canaan within no time because I am sure there were shortcuts and other shorter routes to Canaan , but He didn ' t . He chose to lead them through strange roads , desert and wilderness . All they were expected to do was to follow God . Their eyes were supposed to remain on Him alone and trust Him to lead them to Canaan safely . When God says , ' I will bring the blind by a way they did not know ; I will lead them in paths they have not known …', it means that to us , these ways and paths are going to be strange , and unless we follow God faithfully and stay focused on Him , we are bound to get lost .
God is the author and the finisher of our lives ; He is the beginning and the end and He declares our end from the beginning . He knows how it ' s going to start , and how it will end . He does not give people maps to use as they walk with Him ; He expects them to have faith in Him , trust in Him and keep their eyes focused on Him alone . Losing the sight of Jesus 19 is losing direction . It ' s as simple as that . It ' s obvious that
Removing our eyes from God and focusing on how to solve our own issues , challenges and the problems we encounter on our journey with Him is a way of making Him understand that He is no longer needed . God cannot be in a place where He is only an option ; He has to be the priority and the only option you have . And so when you push Him back and choose to focus on your issues , then He just withdraws . This happens because man was created with a free will which means that we can make decisions without God ' s involvement . Whatever decision you make or whichever way you choose to follow is up to you . God does not come in between a man and his decisions . He does not force people to follow Him ; neither does He force them to submit to Him . What He requires from us is willing submission . One of the key determinants therefore , on whether or not God ' s presence remains with you lies in your decisions . It ' s practically in your hands . Yet most of us have opted to go the wrong way by following shortcuts and compromising .
This is why even though we may think that we are walking with God , it can be a great surprise to realize that He left us a long time ago . Realise that in both instances , God ' s presence disappeared mysteriously because the attention was given to another or something else . God has to be at the centre of your life . Let Him be the first : the real reason why you live ; the air you breathe and the only one you depend on in your life .
And when he brings out his own sheep , he goes before them ; and the sheep follow him , for they know his voice . Yet they will by no means follow a stranger , but will flee from him , for they do not know the voice of strangers ~ John 10:4-5 NKJV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart , and lean not on your own understanding ; in all your ways acknowledge Him , and He shall direct your paths . Do not be wise in your own eyes ; Fear the Lord and depart from evil ~ Proverbs 3:5-7 NKJV
There is a way that seems right to a man , But its end is the way of death ~ Proverbs 14:12 NKJV