♣ Abidance to Guidance

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” – Matthew 6:33

GUIDANCE IN LIFE is so important but not as imperative as pursuing the ways and interests of God’s purposes; that, in essence, is what seeking the kingdom of God means. Before anything else (relationships, home or work) comes our relationship with God, without implicating anything that is wishy-washy and sentimental leading to no practicality.

It is so easy to be preoccupied with where we should be, who we should be with and what we should do, instead of all those aspects inevitably flowing out of God being first in our lives. Guidance never comes before God; guidance comes out of knowing Him – “…and all these things shall be added unto you.” Food, drink and clothing, as Christ mentioned in this passage, encompasses everything that pertains to life. After all, isn’t that what every person is naturally concerned with? All these things supposedly ‘ensure’ our security and without them we cannot live. The pitfall for any Christian is the temptation to remind (doubt and question) God of what He is already fully aware of: “Your Father knows that you need all these things” but do we sometimes act as if He isn’t?

Have we got to the place that nothing is more important than making sure we are walking right with God, that we are walking in His light and that His cleansing is immediately applied to where sin is known? Of course we are never going to be sin-free (in this body) but are we quick to confess (1 John 1:9) as much as we are to fall, instead of allowing sin to harden our hearts?

I am persuaded that when we are preoccupied with pleasing God, the laws of life (under His sovereignty) work in ways that leave us in amazement and wonder as He leads, bringing about those connections, opening those doors and providing with such intricate care. That’s not to say we lose concern and a sense of responsibility in our circumstances, but rather we are not anxious and getting into a state of panic, which can only happen if the peace of God is absent from our hearts. “For the righteous will never be moved…his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord…his heart is steady; he will not be afraid” (Psalm 112:6-8). When God is made the prize of life, that will be the condition of the heart, no matter how life’s situations shift haphazardly; they will come and go, but what matters above all else is that the Rock of ages is known and our whole existence is being established upon this Rock (Matthew 7:24-27). This brings forth the fruit of Christ’s righteousness, the inevitability of abidance in Christ, out of which comes guidance, but we must always remember that abiding in Him is to remain the dominant note.