Guard Your Way

Proverbs 16:17 (ESV)

¹⁷ The highway of the upright turns aside from evil;
    whoever guards his way preserves his life.

Often we hear our spiritual life referred to as a journey or our walk with the Lord. Scripture refers to the Lord as our Shepherd and our Guide. Psalm 23 says we are led along paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. The verse above from Proverbs 16 caught my attention with its reference to the highway of the upright turning from evil. Can you imagine what that highway looks like? We used to live in Baton Rouge, LA, and there is a spot on the interstate as you are approaching downtown where it appears as though you are about to run right into the state capitol building. Almost in the blink of an eye the building is in the distance far off to the right. I am amazed every time we pass that spot. This verse makes me think of being headed straight for evil and believing it is going to have an impact on us only to find that the road turns aside and suddenly the threat is far off in the distance.
I confess I have spent the last week fretting over a particular situation in my life. I just could not figure out how it could possibly turn out well. I was concerned that when a particular time came, the others involved were going to be stressed and that would in turn stress me. Finally, I asked one simple question of another person involved and they had already taken care of the whole thing. All that fretting and it wasn't ever an issue. My path was destined to turn aside all along. I was panicking and bracing for impact when my Lord had already made provision for me.
The verse goes on to speak of guarding our way thereby preserving our lives. I believe we guard our way when as much as is possible on our own, we steer clear of evil. We should quickly combat evil thoughts and look for the fastest way out when we are tempted. We need to commit to staying on the Lord's path everyday. I heard someone say recently, "I tell the Lord, if I prayed anything that wasn't according to your will, you just ignore it."  Safe travels on your spiritual highway today!