Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
Life is about choices. This implies that there must be options for us to choose from.
The freedom to choose is an integral part of our humanity, for God has given us free will.
To insist on freedom of choice without having all the available options before us is dangerous. Because if none of the options before us leads to hope and life, the exercise of our freedom of choice is mere futility.
The Psalmist made a choice to avail before him an option that would lead to hope and life when he asked the Lord to teach him His way. In life, we are often confronted with challenges and the work of the enemy. How do we navigate through the maze of pitfalls, failure, temptation, and ambush that seeks to derail us from our God-given destiny? We must have the Lord’s Way in us. We need to learn His Way, familiarize with it, and internalize it. Only when we have His Way in us, that we can recognize His leading in all our decision making. The smooth path that the Psalmist yearn for is not on a map but appears whenever he made godly choices – to choose God’s Way, to choose the Way of the Spirit over the way of the flesh.
The Way of the Spirit is the Way of Righteousness. It will lead us to the path of hope and life. However, the way of the flesh will lead us to make decisions that will lead to destruction and calamity, opens the door for the enemy to torment us. I recall people talking about “jalan tikus” - paths where immigrants enter into the State of Sabah illegally. These are clearly created by man choosing the way of the flesh. The consequence of these choices is evident today in our State, on many fronts.
All of us have options. God has revealed Himself through His words and by His Holy Spirit. If we choose as the Psalmist chose, the choice will lead to path of hope and life. Whenever we are presented with an opportunity to choose, make sure that among the options before us, there is the Way of the Lord.
Choose wisely. The path you walk in will determine your future.