But He Knoweth the Way That I Take...

I am not the same person I was a week ago. This past week was full of challenges and today I was thinking about everything and how great God is when it comes to challenges.  There were times this past week that I wanted a broader picture...I wanted to see the "whats and wherefores" of this journey.  God doesn't always let us know those things, however.  I think He is selective in what He reveals to us because it would be too much for us to bear all at once.  If we knew the outcome, we may choose to go another direction and never reach our full potential in Christ...or perhaps we wouldn't go through the process of growing to reach that outcome, but instead jump right the end.  Job, in the Bible, felt this way.

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.  My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.  Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him. Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.  For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:  Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.  ~Job 23:8-17

This passages gives me a lot of hope.  Job was tried and trusted God to know "whats and wherefores."  He trusted Him to the point of remaining steady on the course and keeping God's commandments.  He "esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."  God's words were more important to Job than even food.  He knew that what God desires He will do and He changes not.  Job knew that God would complete what he started in him and kept his eyes focused on what God was doing to change him. 

I love where God is taking me in order to grow to be more like Him.  There are times I fear I can't go on but as long as my heart stays fixed on Him, I find the strength I need to take the next step and to "just do the next thing." (Elisabeth Elliot) 

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Walter C. Smith, 1876

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.

All laud we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee,
And so let Thy glory, Almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.