Your way ran through the sea; your path cut through great
waters, yet no one can spot your footprints. This is how you
lead your people: obviously and invisibly. Psalm 77:19
So many are searching.
Christians often live in a continual awareness of seeking the leading of God.
He gives us his Word—solid, trustworthy, life‑giving—yet
the movement of his Spirit within us can still leave us wondering. How do I
know the “voice” I hear isn’t
simply my own? How do I distinguish God’s way
from the world’s way, beyond the
obvious sins we know to avoid? What should my career be? Who should walk with
me in life? Where does ministry fit in a world overflowing with need?
This metaphor from the Psalms steadies me. A path through
the sea? Footprints in the ocean? I’ve seen something like that
in real life.
I come from an area where there are many gravel pits, the digs
of the mounds of fill and silt dropped by the glaciers during the
last ice age. Before conservation laws came into effect, gravel
Was often dug right up to the riverbanks, swallowing sections
of the river into the widening pit and leaving behind a lake
where land once stood. It looked as if the river had vanished.
But I learned something: if
you stand in just the right place, at just the right time, you can see the
river’s path running straight through that man‑made lake. Invisible from most angles, but
unmistakable when you know where to look.
That’s the key—knowing when and where to place myself so I
can catch God’s truth. That becomes the work: searching for
that vantage point, positioning myself with intention, waiting for
the moment when the hidden becomes clear. Just like an
eagle who must put themselves in the right place to soar and
catch the wind, so must I. And when I do—when I wait,
observe, and ready myself—God’s leading becomes
astonishingly obvious. The revelation comes, and with it, the
action that follows.
Prayer:
Lord, teach me where to stand.
Quiet my striving so I can see
the path you cut through the waters.
Help me trust your leading
even when your footprints are hidden.
Make me ready for the
revelation—and the obedience—that follows.
Amen.
