The LORD knows the way of the righteous.

 

Friday, September 1, 2023


Psalms 1; 2

1 Kings 2:1-12

Acts 22:17-30


Observance: Giles of Provence, monastic and hermit (d. c. 710)


The LORD knows the way of the righteous.


It must be the time of year for people to start getting bored with their current jobs. The advertisements for universities seem to be targeting such people, alluring prospective mature-aged students with the promise of a more exciting and rewarding career path. Wouldn’t it be nice if life worked this way? Nice and simple, nice and easy. Want to go there and do that? Here is your path; walk in it.


God’s way is far less predictable, but far more exciting. Take the example of St Paul, appealing as he does in today’s reading to his own people in their own language. He is a Jew among Jews; trained by none other than Gamaliel; just as zealous for God as they, minding their clothes while they stoned Stephen to death. Looking back on his own life, Paul must have thought that God’s plan was for him to build the church in Jerusalem. The perfect life training for an apostle to the Jews, Paul thought, and yet God thought differently. Ripped out of his comfort zone, Paul was sent flying across the known world, his only points of similarity between him and his mission field being a spoken language and some hand-laid roads. Far less predictable, but far more exciting.


Take a moment to try and get into the mind of poor old Solomon, too. None of the gumption of his older brother, his appeal for the throne being carried to David by women and priests. Sure, the people rioted joyously at his coronation, but how much of that was because of who Solomon was, and how much because Solomon had been chosen by David, the great king? And now he gets given a hit-list of political assassinations to carry out once David shuffles off this mortal coil. Far less predictable, but far more exciting.


Our only hope for stability in this life is to entrust it to the Lord God. The Lord knows the way of the righteous, although we get some hints on how to follow it, both from the words of scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Any planning for the future done in harmony with the word of God and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will be far less predictable than if we worked out a project on our own. But it will be far more exciting. Because the Lord knows the way.

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