Day 25

The root of the problem was that people thought that it was for them to direct their own steps.

“I know, O LORD, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.”  —JEREMIAH 10:23

I heard a man on the radio say, “If there is a God, He is like a poker dealer who deals out a hand and then it’s your job to make the best of the cards that He gives you. Some have been dealt a good hand and some a poor hand, but it is up to you to make the best of what He has given you.” 

Sometimes life seems that way. Some certainly seem to have been dealt a better hand than others. Life can be unfair. Jeremiah acknowledges these discrepancies in life, “I know, O LORD, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23). He is writing this when he looks around frustrated and broken over the state of Judah. The root of the problem was that people thought that it was for them to direct their own steps.

We may think that by experience and wisdom we would in time be able to direct our lives advantageously, but for that to be, Jeremiah reminds us we need to know two things: Firstly, ‘that a man’s life is not his own’. Paul repeats that in the New Testament, adding that “You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6.19-20) A starting point in our attitude to ourselves is to know we are not our own. We have been entrusted with life, with a body and with circumstances, and no matter what they are, God can be honored and glorified in them.

Secondly, ‘it is not for man to direct his steps’. We do not have what it takes to direct our own lives adequately. But then we were never intended to. The way our paths are to be directed is written by Solomon in Proverbs 3:6: “… in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.” As we acknowledge God, living daily with a consciousness of His Presence, directing our paths becomes His responsibility. Our responsibility is to trust Him, and trusting Him means we assume He is doing what He has promised, and therefore we do not complain or grumble, but live in the moment. That is how we ‘honour God in our body’.

Life is not the luck of the draw. It has been created and crafted by a loving God, who privileges us with being part of His purposes, and it is His prerogative to work out the story he has planned for our lives to tell.