Let God lead you

Green Pastures By Pastor T. O. Banso

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
GSM: 08033113523

For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns — broken cisterns that can hold no water. ‘Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he plundered? The young lions roared at him, and growled; they made his land waste; his cities are burned, without inhabitant. Also the people of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head. Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the LORD your God When He led you in the way? And now why take the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and the fear of Me is not in you,’ Says the Lord GOD of hosts.” (Jer 2:13-19 NKJV)
From the passage above, Israel committed two evils – forsaking the fountain of living water and hewing for themselves broken cisterns that couldn’t hold water. The fountain of living water or fountain of life giving water they forsook was God. They forsook God and went after other nations that were likened to broken cisterns. They dug for themselves cracked cisterns that could hold no water.
Verse 17 says, “And you have brought this on yourselves by rebelling against the LORD your God when he wanted to lead you and show you the way!” (NLT) God wanted to lead them and show them the way but they forsook him. The result of this rebellion was the Egyptians marching from their cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes to utterly destroy Israel's glory and power. Rebellion will always bring its consequences. It did concerning the Israelites. God’s word must be obeyed or will pay dearly for it. “This is what I told them: 'Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Only do as I say, and all will be well!' ‘But my people would not listen to me. They kept on doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward. From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my prophets — day in and day out. But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful — even worse than their ancestors.” (Jer 7:23-26 NLT)
The Israelites forsook the fountain of living water. They went after cisterns that couldn’t hold water. They didn’t allow God to lead them. They started walking in the way of the Egyptians and in the way of the Assyrians – they led themselves. “And now why take the road to Egypt to drink the waters of Sihor? Or why take the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?” (Jer 2:18 NKJV)
Verses 36-37 tell us the consequence of walking in the way of the Egyptians and in the way of the Assyrians. “Why do you gad about so much to change your way? Also you shall be ashamed of Egypt as you were ashamed of Assyria. Indeed you will go forth from him with your hands on your head; For the LORD has rejected your trusted allies, and you will not prosper by them.”(NKJV) Egypt would fail them as Assyria did and they would not succeed despite their aid.
Evil befell Israel because she forsook God; she didn’t allow God to lead her. Rather she went after Assyria and later Egypt. She stopped drinking from the fountain of God’s guidance and started drinking from the fountains of the broken cisterns of Assyria and Egypt.
Don’t lead yourself
Don’t lead yourself; let God lead you. Don’t be attracted to some helps somewhere – helps that don’t help, unreliable, undependable helps. David says in Psalm 23:2-3: “He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.” (NLT) David was led by God; he didn’t lead himself. The Bible tells us a lot about how David sought the leading and guidance of God in battles. Little wonder the chains of success that he had. Only in the matter of Bathsheba did he go his own way and not God’s way. Let God lead you; don’t lead yourself. Leading yourself will lead you astray and far from God and expose you to the attendant consequences.
In Ex 13:21-22, the Bible says, “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.” (NKJV) That was how God led the Israelites in the wilderness. He went before them by day in a pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire by night to lead the way. God never abandoned them once they followed his leading and guidance. There is safety and protection in God when you allow God to lead you. “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” (Ps 37:5-6 NKJV) Don’t trust your brain; don’t promote your intelligence above God’s leading. There is a way that seems right to man but the end is destruction. (Pro 14:12, 16:25) “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Prov 3:5 NKJV)
In Exo 32:34, God assured Moses His angel shall lead the way before him and the people of Israel. God didn’t allow them to lead themselves. God’s angel leading you is safer than any expert leading you.
Joseph said God would lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Gen 50:24), and God did by a mighty hand. (Ex 3:19, 32:11, Deut 4:34, 5:15, 6:21, 7:8, 19, 9:26, 11:2-3, 26:8, 34:10-12) But the Israelites, though out of Egypt, went in the way of Egypt to drink the water of Sihor – went into alliance with Egypt. And they went to Assyria to drink the waters of the river (Euphrates) – alliance with Assyria. The two alliances were not based on God’s leading and didn’t profit them.
Let God lead you when God leads you, you will be safe. “See, I am sending my angel before you to lead you safely to the land I have prepared for you.” (Ex 23:20 NLT) God’s leading is the safest and the surest; don’t be deceived by what Egypt or Assyria is dangling at you. Beware of the offer of the serpent! It will always evict you from your God-given garden.
There are more than one ways God can lead you such as leading you through His word, godly teachings and counsel, the Holy Spirit, dreams, visions and trances and angels. As a child of God, be open to all of them. Don’t dig for yourself cracked cisterns that can hold no water. Even if you get the leading you’re so desperate to get through other ways apart from God’s, it will come with negative consequences which may not be obvious to you in the immediate. Don’t patronize witch doctors, star gazers, necromancers and other mediums. Stay within the ambit of the word of God. Let God lead you.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, kindly say this prayer now: “0 Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and surrender my life to him today. I invite Jesus into my heart today. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you Jesus for saving me and making me a child of God”
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible believing, Bible teaching church in your area where you will be taught how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things becoming all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. May the Lord be with you.