Following Where He Leads

A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps (Proverbs 16:9, NKJV).

Back in the day, so for me, the 90s, I remember watching a TV show called “Let’s Make a Deal.” Though the show has shifted a bit over the years, the original premise has remained the same. Contestants, chosen at random by the host, are given an opportunity to take a prize of medium value and make a trade for another prize item of unknown value. The intrigue of the game for viewers like myself was the fact these prize items were hidden behind door number one, two, or three, and contestants were ultimately forced to make the decision regarding which door to choose. Not knowing what they would find behind each of the doors created a suspenseful game where contestants were sometimes left disappointed as the value of their prize plummeted, but also the possibilities of the prize value increasing dramatically when they selected the proper door.

I remember watching and asking myself, “If I were on the show, how in the world would I decide which door to choose?” Contestants sometimes choose which door based on their favorite number or, most often, based upon the opinion of the crowd. If I were on the show, I’d probably go with whatever “felt right” in the moment. As you hear a lot of people often say, “just follow your heart.” Though this makes for a fun and entertaining way to play a game show, making decisions based on favorite numbers or following the crowd is certainly not the premise behind which I want to live my life on a daily basis.

So, I recently asked myself, “How am I deciding which doors to walk through?” Every day we are faced with making decisions. What outfit to wear to work, what to order at your local coffee shop, to go to the gym or not to go to the gym, what to cook for supper. The list is endless. Most of those types of decisions we make quickly and without putting too much thought behind them, but what about the bigger life decisions we face? Where should I apply for college? Should I relocate my family for a new job opportunity? How should I invest my money? Is it worth it to invest me in serving my community? We are all surrounded by so much noise—company expectations, financial pressures, and societal norms. Before we know it, we feel swallowed up by these pressures and fall into the trap of allowing those factors to carry greater weight in our decision-making than how the Lord is calling us to move.

As a physical therapist, I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to impact the lives of others on a daily basis by helping them with their physical ailments and empowering them to return to living a better quality of life. I absolutely love my job, but that is not the only part of my story. The enemy would love to keep me in a box and limit the ways God can use me, but I have come to recognize what a great disservice I would be doing for the Kingdom if I chose to listen only to the crowd when deciding what to pursue in this life. Instead, I am making a conscious choice every single day to pause and ask the Lord to guide my steps. Maybe door one holds access to my tangible skills as a physical therapist that I use daily to help others, maybe door two contains a gift of words that the Lord uses to speak truth into the lives of others, and maybe door three leads me to step out into a role of service that allows me to impact my local community. Though there are lots of things competing for attention, Proverbs reminds me of one truth that is never changing: though I may make my own plans in my heart, the Lord is directing my steps. Just like Let’s Make a Deal, we often never fully know what is held behind each of those doors. However, if we choose to trust the Lord, we can confidently say yes to every single door he leads us to and trust Him to be our guide as we step through them. I can be a physical therapist AND a writer AND a serving member of my community.

So, how have you limited your Kingdom contribution by telling yourself you can only choose door one, two, OR three? As followers of Christ, we don’t have to limit ourselves, and we certainly don’t have to heed the direction of the crowd. By choosing to trust Him and open whatever door He leads us to, we can be confident He will use it for good and to bring glory to His name.