At various times on my Christian journey, I have cried out for a burning bush. I have wanted a supernatural, undeniable, indisputable revelation from God. Like Moses standing shoeless with God at the burning bush, I have wanted God to say in a voice loud and clear, “go here; go there; do this; do that.” Yet I’ve had to grapple with the fact that God does not always work in the way I want Him to. I’ve wanted Him to reveal the future in a clear way that leaves no doubt about what the next steps are and how to take them. I have experienced such times when God has been as clear, but often, His leading has been more like being led by lantern than by burning bush.
A lantern casts light only a few feet in front of you. It offers enough light for you to take your next few steps. Life with God is often like being led by lantern. Rather than showing us the beginning and the end simultaneously or leading us very directly, God takes us by the hand and calls us to trust Him one step after another. Often as we take one step, God encourages us to take another, and then other.
I heard a poet describe that certain aspects of our Christian journey are like climbing up a steep mountain. To save time, we may desire to run straight up to the summit in the most direct route possible. But most mountains are too steep to take head on. We need some switch backs to help us ascend to the top. Sometimes we feel like God is leading us around in circles, but really, we are going back and forth, and upward at a more gradual progression. This slower upward progression allows us to climb what would be too difficult to take on all at once.
God has good reason for leading us step by step. Exodus 13:17-18 tells us “When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”
We may want God to speak more completely or lead more directly at times. We are simply focused on the goal or the end product. Yet God knows each of us and is often more focused on the journey. He leads us according to what He knows we need at the time. Sometimes the best route is not a straight line, but a zigzag. It is being led by lantern, trusting God with our next step and with simply living for Him in the present without being overly concerned about the future.