HOPEful Direction
- Hope Stuart
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
Isaiah 48:17
I am a bit embarrassed to admit this… I really stink at figuring out directions. I don’t fail if directions involve left or right, but if someone throws north, south, east, or west into the navigations, it’s almost a guarantee I will become discombobulated (a.k.a. lost). I was a Girl Scout; I even went to Girl Scout camp a few times and I still can’t master directionality when it comes to earthly magnetism. Ugh!
So, when a client asked if I could get her Sirius radio to work, I dove in before realizing I was going to have to find a southern facing window. Yup… I have helped clients downsize and donate vehicles full of items, stage homes, move into new homes, assemble furniture of all shapes and sizes… I have even repaired appliances that were not working properly. However, when asked to find a southern facing window, I struggled for minutes, which seemed like hours. Finally, I downloaded a compass app to locate the part of their home that faced south. How embarrassing for me! Thank God for a free compass app and the perseverance He gifted me.
A couple of weeks after my compass adventure, this devotional surfaced to remind me of my issues with directionality: The Spirit of truth is like an inner compass in our lives-always pointing us toward what Jesus would be, say, or do in any given moment. Leave it up to the late Charles Stanley to bring clarity to my directionality disability. While I may not be good at determining north, south, east, and west without the assistance of an app, I have an inner compass that guides my way each day. I consider it a compass of HOPE. Yes, His Holy Spirit is the app inside me, pointing me in the direction toward what Jesus would say, do, or model each moment of every day. This direction is not something you download from Google… it’s an inner HOPE that only God can provide.
Regardless of where you are in your Christian journey, once you become a believer in Jesus, you are gifted with an internal and eternal compass that guides your way every moment of each day. I can’t think of a better “app” than that! There is nothing better than gaining God’s guidance to living a life like Jesus while being led by His Holy Spirit. As believers, we have access to God’s wisdom all the time… as long as we take the time to listen to Him… to His guidance, to His direction, to His HOPE. And while He may not help us find north, south, east, or west without help from an app, He will tell us yes, no, or wait. Regardless of how big or small our decisions are, God is present with His Spirit guiding our steps on our eternal path to becoming more like Jesus.
And to reiterate just how much God wants me to rely on His consistent, correct, and COMPASSionate direction, He sent yet another “devope” via Charles Stanley within 24 hours of drafting this message. Dr. Stanley’s devotional began with the verse from Isaiah quoted above and provided an even more HOPEful message about God’s direction. Not only does God guide our daily walk with Him, but He is also actively working in every situation we encounter for us to know His purpose and will for our lives, giving us consistent, COMPASSionate HOPE. God’s compass, through His Holy Spirit, doesn’t just guide our routine choices and voices. He takes complete and full responsibility in teaching us how to walk in His ways to build our faith, our character, our purpose, and our HOPE.
As a child of God, He will never hide the direction He wants us to take. Regardless of the size of the decision, He will move heaven and earth to show us His will and will be right beside us, guiding our steps… one COMPASSionate step at a time. We must learn to be good listeners… to feel His Spirit speaking to us through words, thoughts, relationships, and situations. He will use all kinds of signs and promptings to keep us on His path of HOPE.
Don’t miss God’s blessings because you are fearful of giving up control. It’s possible that everything is going to pieces because you refuse to loosen your grasp… letting go of a goal, relationship, or priority that is leading you off His path for your life’s purpose. Let go of your fear and any idols you are holding close, and let Jesus take the wheel, be your compass… be your HOPE. Releasing our reliance on earthly magnetism and focusing on the eternal masterpiece God created us to become will keep us in step with His direction, will, HOPE, and purpose for our life.
God may light our path just a few feet in front of us so that we rely on His character, wisdom and HOPE to lead us to His purpose for our lives. He knows our brains can’t handle more than a few steps at a time. Lord knows… if I can’t handle north, south, east, or west, I know I need to rest in His will and way for what He has planned for the rest of my life. However, I can rest in His guidance, His direction, His compass, and His HOPE to get me where He wants me to go… and that is the best direction a disabled directionality girl like me could ever HOPE for.
Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?
Proverbs 20:24
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