• Know God’s will and plan
• Discern it clearly and simply
• Have a successful journey in it from start to finish

The cliché rings true – God really does have a plan for your life.  If you are eager to know it, are confused about it, or at a crossroads regarding a significant decision, this series is for you. You’ll learn powerful and practical biblical insights to help you get and stay on the road God has for you.

Welcome to Part 1 – Your Journey

Introduction

Each day millions (or perhaps billions) around the globe are searching for God’s will. Many are asking am I on the right road?  If you are like I was years ago, the topic of “God’s will” often brought more confusion than clarity – especially amidst significant life decisions.  I mean, one cannot find whom to marry, what business to launch, what church to attend, or what house to buy in the twenty-second chapter of Matthew. 

However, over the years I’ve learned some key truths to unlocking God’s heart in such times and would like to pass these along.  

So, pack your bags, grab your favorite music, let the top down and the sun in, and get ready!  Road trips are best taken with friends.  So, invite others to go with you by sharing this series. 

Today is a big picture view of what His road entails and how to get started on it.

Your road

The scriptures clearly reveal God has a road for you.  David prayed to know it for himself:

“Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow.” – Psalm 25:4

The will of God, when stretched across our lives, is like a road.  God’s road is one of adventure, joy, peace, and excitement – much like a cross-country road trip experience.  His road is designed to take you to the next place in your journey with Him.  As we ride on it, we also grow in maturity in the Lord and in His Kingdom purposes.  

Like a vehicle, we too have our own unique features, issues, serial numbers, systems, model, color, age, shape, and style.  Our interior (soul and spirit) and exterior (body) together make up the totality of who we are.

#1: Your road trip has a roadmap

It is important you know that God designed a roadmap for your road trip before you were born:

“Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. ” – Psalm 139:16

Like a scroll unravels one page at a time, our roadmaps unfold a little each day as we align our ways to God’s. While the Lord does not reveal His entire map to us, He may show us glimpses of what is down the road to impart encouragement, direction, and hope.

For example, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said, “To your descendants, I will give this land.” (Genesis 12:7). Note that Abraham did not have any children or land then.  At that moment, God folded Abraham’s road map. He overlaid a future point on top of Abraham’s present reality to give him a glimpse of it.  Later, Abraham became impatient and tried to force his future into his present. But the Lord, being rich in grace and mercy, redirected him back onto his original path.

What God promised Abraham came to fruition after his death, and today billions of lives have been radically altered because of it.  Your road is not just for you either – it is for future generations coming after you.  

Like Abraham, we too can create alternate futures which God never intended for us. However, God’s GPS (God’s Positioning Spirit) inside us is more than capable of rerouting us back.

God’s will is not a straight road – He often recalculates its coordinates based on our current location in life.  Placed along His winding road are also promises for us. While God never revokes His promises, Israel’s wilderness experience teaches us that certain ones may be forfeited if we get too far off route.  Of course, this excludes God’s promise of Heaven and salvation for His children.  

God has already prepared beforehand everything we are to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). He’s holding your roadmap in one hand and you in the other.  Lets move to the second aspect.

#2: Your road is good

A plan is derived from a series of thoughts stringed together with an end in mind.  God’s plan for you is based on His thoughts about your life from the end to the beginning.  Like each locational coordinate spanning from the west to the east, the number of thoughts God has toward you are numerous:

“God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! “If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand” – Psalm 139:17-18b
 
According to this prophetic psalm, God’s thoughts of you outnumber the sum of all the grains of sand on earth.  This is about seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion thoughts.  To put that into perspective, that is 1.78 x 10^11 thoughts God is having every minute toward every person!  Of course, this some very rough math.  While this psalm may be a written as a hyperbole, it may actually be an underestimate considering the majestic mind of God.

Multiply that by number 10 billion, and you get a small glimpse into the mind of God for everyone on earth today.  That is a lot of data points in His GPS!  This gives Willie Nelson’s song “You were always on my mind” a whole new meaning.
 
But what is the nature of all God’s thoughts toward you? Are they filled with anger, hatred, or resentment because of your past?

God’s thoughts and ways are not like ours. Never has He deviated from His own will.  Never has a wrong thought ever crossed His mind – in all eternity. God cannot produce a single thought contrary to Himself just as an apple cannot produce watermelon seeds because its fixed gene expression.

Unlike a GMO apple, God’s nature cannot change: He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The scriptures reveal that God has a good nature (Psalms 119:68a).  It is impossible for God not to be good. He is good and therefore does it, thinks it, says it, and wills it.  
 
This means that each of those 1.78 x 10^11 (plus) thoughts God is having every minute toward you and I are each full of goodwill and good intentions.  Each piece of gravel God has laid down on His road for us are expressions of His goodness (Romans 12:2).

At my son’s last birthday party, I made him a banner which had “Happy Birthday Elijah” stringed across it with flags and balloons from left to right.  If God’s thoughts were stringed together in sequence from the beginning of your road to its end, it would form a banner over your life that read “GOD’S GOODNESS” (Song of Solomon 2:4). 

God’s goodness does not equal a problem-free life.  We are actually promised problems.  However, because God is good, He wants to use every bad for our greater good – for now and eternity (Romans 8:28).
 
It is difficult to reconcile God’s goodness with His mysterious ways.  But, we know God is working ALL things together for good for those traveling on His road.  But why does evil, injustice, and death still exist if God is good?  We will explore these questions in further parts.

The starting point

The most important part about being on God’s road is starting on it.  If you are unsure if you have, today you can be.  You are never too far away from accessing the good plans and road He has for you. God always meets us exactly where we are. 

How do I start?  

Suppose you are in your car and you come to a stop sign. To your right is a narrow ramp leading to a road that goes on forever.  A sign reads, “God’s way – your endless road trip of life”. The road you are on is a wide dirt road. It has many other cars on it.  A sign above it reads, “Your way – bridge out ahead”.  The distance from you to the bridge is unknown.  All you know is that down the road is a sudden end, but that God’s road is full of life and continues forever.   

You look and see others reading the same signs.  Many drive on ahead. Only a few take the ramp. What do you do – continue ahead with the many or take the ramp with the few? Is it your way or God’s? 

As you sit in your car pondering this question, suddenly you receive a phone call.  “Hello, friend. This is Jesus of Nazareth. I want to speak to you about that off-ramp if you are interested in hearing My voice.  You are free to hang up and keep driving ahead. If you do, know that I love you. I will keep reaching out to you at other off-ramps until you get to the bridge. It is there that I will lose my signal with you forever.  I say this with tremendous sadness.   

You think getting on that ramp will ruin your future. However, I know the plans I have for you. They are plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  They are plans to give you hope and a future in Me that is full of life both now and forever. 

The road you are on is broad.  It leads to destruction. Many are on it today.  But, narrow is My ramp which leads to life. Yet only a few take it.

I built this ramp for you when I died on a cross to forgive your sins.  I was buried and rose again. Now, I am above all and offer the ramp to all.  When you get on My ramp, you are receiving Me into your life. For without Me, no one can merge onto the road that God has for them. I am the only way to it.  Would you like to receive Me into your life? 

Are you hearing Him call you today for the first time?

If so, and you would like to respond, email me @ wes@clarionsolutiongroup.com.  I will give you the next steps you need to begin your journey on God’s road in Christ.  Even if you simply move the steering wheel in that direction, God honors that.

I look forward to connecting with you in Part 2 of our Road Trip series next time.