God Will Guide You Back to Life - The Crosswalk Devotional - October 14

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God Will Guide You Back to Life
By: Whitney Hopler

Bible Reading:
“The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” – Isaiah 58:11, NIV

Walking along the boardwalk at the Beaver Marsh in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I was amazed at how this thriving wetland had come back to life. For decades, the site was a junkyard filled with old cars. In the 1980s, inspired by a shared desire to care for God’s creation, community volunteers and park staff came together to haul away tons of trash and clean up the landscape. Then, beavers reintroduced to the area built a dam across a nearby canal, which naturally flooded the land that had been a marsh years ago. Dormant seeds that had been waiting for water activated and started growing into marsh plants again. What was once a damaged dump transformed into a thriving wetland filled with water lilies, birds, turtles, beavers, river otters, and more. The Beaver Marsh is a wonderful reminder that no matter how damaged something appears, it can be restored when people follow God’s guidance to take good care of it.

Just like the land at the Beaver Marsh was dry before it was restored physically, you might feel dry spiritually right now – finding it hard to find God. Spiritual dryness can feel like walking through “a sun-scorched land” like Isaiah 58:11 describes. You can become stressed and exhausted, just like you would if you were physically walking through a dry desert without water. But if you seek God with all your heart, you’ll find him, and you’ll be blessed by being able to perceive God’s guidance. This verse promises that God will satisfy your needs and strengthen you. In the process, you’ll be like “a well-watered garden” – just like the Beaver Marsh is thriving. Since God gives you Living Water spiritually, you can rely on him for whatever you need to thrive.

You can start thriving when you stop trying to solve your problems on your own and instead invite God to show you the way to solutions. To find God’s guidance, you need to prioritize talking to God in prayer and listening to God in meditation. You can just pray something simple, like: “God, please help me know what to do today.” But talking to God is only half of the conversation. When you meditate on God’s messages to you in the Bible and listen for God speaking to you through His Holy Spirit, you can find the guidance you need. Then, when you put that guidance into action and follow where God guides you, you’ll see restoration happen in your life. Whenever you do what God asks – even by taking a few small steps in the direction where God is leading you – you’ll experience God’s answers to your prayers.

As you follow God’s guidance day by day, your life will start to bloom like a well-watered garden. A garden with plenty of water stays green and growing even on hot days. Following God helps you make good choices, saves you from getting lost on wrong paths, and helps you thrive in every part of your life.

God also promises that you’ll become like a fresh water spring that never runs out. All the hope and peace God gives you will flow through your life like a spring and spill over into the lives of your friends and family.

When you listen to God and follow his guidance, you can step out of spiritual dryness and come back to life spiritually through renewal and revival!

Intersecting Faith & Life:

As you consider how seeking and following God’s guidance will help you thrive, reflect on these questions:

• What areas of your life currently feel “sun-scorched” and how can you seek God’s help to bring those situations back to life with his living water? 
• How do you feel most connected to God’s guidance day by day? 
• What is a recent piece of wisdom from God that you feel called to act on right now? 
• What makes it challenging to follow God’s guidance instead of relying on your own plans, and what helps you trust God as he leads you? 
• What changes do you notice in yourself when you choose to seek and follow God’s guidance?

Further Reading:
Psalm 23:2-3
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Psalm 32:8
Proverbs 3:5-6
Psalm 32:8

Join the conversation! Share how today’s devotional encouraged or challenged you in your walk with Christ.

GO DEEPER:

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Westend61 

Whitney Hopler helps people discover God's wonder and experience awe. She is the author of several books, including the nonfiction books Wake Up to Wonder and Wonder Through the Year: A Daily Devotional for Every Year, and the young adult novel Dream Factory. Whitney has served as an editor at leading media organizations, including Crosswalk.com, The Salvation Army USA’s national publications, and Dotdash.com (where she produced a popular channel on angels and miracles). She currently leads the communications work at George Mason University’s Center for the Advancement of Well-Being. Connect with Whitney on her website at www.whitneyhopler.com and on her Facebook author page.

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