And We Wonder Why We're Lost?

The Lord is good and does what is right;
    He shows the proper path to those who go astray.
He leads the humble in doing right,
    teaching them His way.

Psalm 25:8-9

When did we reach the point in life where we know everything?  When did we become so unteachable?  

Here's an observation, we are willing to learn as long as it follows the way we already think.  If learning something "new" is from another perspective, we tend to be wary of learning.

Notice that the Psalmist reminds us that "The Lord is good and does what is right."  God has never done wrong!  He has kept His promises to do what is good FOR us.  The fact that we don't like His methods doesn't bother God in the least, because, like a loving Father, God knows that what is best for us isn't always what we consider pleasant.

Next, the Psalmist tells us that "He shows the proper path to those who go astray." Hmmmm....let us ponder this for a moment.  Have you ever been shown the proper path to take, perhaps by GPS, and you decide you know a "shortcut" which took you way out of the way or even got you lost?  if you don't want to admit it, that's okay, just claim you know someone who has done just that.  You see, God shows us the proper path to get back to the path He has designed just for us.  But just because He's shown us the path to take, doesn't mean we are willing to take it.  

There have been times when I have messed up so badly that I could not figure out how to get back to where I needed to be.  God's way was to be completely honest, take the reprimand, and lesson learned.  Sometimes I followed that.......and then there were the other times.  Did my decision to follow my own way shut God up?  No a chance. Just sayin'.

Finally, the Psalmist tells us that "He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them His way."  The word "humble" here does not mean a person who is willing to get trampled by others.  The word, quite literally, can be translated "teachable."  Why?  Because only the teachable can be taught.  In order to be teachable, we must be humble enough to realize we don't have all the answers and understand that we aren't that smart or God wouldn't need to teach us His ways.

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." - James 4:10

We must learn to be teachable!