I get totally depressed when I go shopping with any female. It’s not the company that makes me so weary. (Girls are awesome, I live with three.) It’s the aimless wandering looking for the ever elusive “on sale” tag. We might as well be looking for the pileated woodpecker. (Google it)

I never go to the store unless I’m on a mission. I even have a route planned before I walk through the door. You guys know what I’m talking about.

What about life? What steps do we take to get to where we want to be? Where is square one? This next verse might be totally depressing to someone who is trying to control his or her life, but don’t freak out, just breathe, we’ll talk about it.

Proverbs 20:24 says, “A man’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?” Right now half of you are thinking, “That was no help at all,” and the other half are thinking that the part about “not understand his (or her) own way” was dead on. Your like, “I’m driving through the dark, in the fog, with my sunglasses on. I have NO clue where this baby is headed.”

Many people encounter a verse like this and ask, “If my steps are directed by the LORD, then why are things so messed up?” The first thing we have to do is take the blame off of God and put it where it belongs, the devil. Just kidding, partly. Mankind is pretty good at messing things up even without the devils help.

Instead we should ask the question the other way around, “If things are so messed up; am I allowing my steps to be directed by the LORD?”

This was exactly the heart of Jeremiah’s prayer when he prayed, “I know, O LORD, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” Jeremiah recognized that the Lord is supposed to be in control, but sometimes we deftly attempt to seize control ourselves. It dawned on the Bible author that this is wrong. Later, Jeremiah even prays that God will correct him on this issue, basically saying that “when you do finally correct me, be sure to do it out of justice and not anger, or I will be reduced to nothing.” He gained real knowledge of who God was and what true authority God had over his life.

What about us? Will we allow our steps to be directed by the Lord?