God truly is right beside of us and guiding us in the paths of his righteousness everyday of our lives. He wants each of us to be living in step with His Spirit, putting to death the misdeeds of the body, and seeking him with ALL of our hearts. And he is with us enabling us to do exactly that. He is directing our every step; we just need to make the decision to listen, acknowledge his voice, and obey.

I've discovered that when God reveals sin our lives, it's not fun, and it kind of hurts. It completely breaks me and puts me once again at the feet of Jesus. Sometimes, though, even when I see my sin, I try to think that I can deal with it, that I can try to get rid of it my own way. And, of course, my own way is a way that would allow me to cling to the things that, although they are not sinful in themselves, are causing me to sin. But that's not going to work. I have to overcome it through the Holy Spirit's power, which means obeying Him and getting rid of it how he wants me to get rid of it. That's the hard part. Often what he tells us to do is not easy and not what we want to do. Actually, I find that it is the last thing I want to do. I often find myself wanting to question God saying, "are you sure this is the best way to go about his? what about if this happens? what about if doing this causes this?" Actually it may be more like, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME GOD??!! IF I DO THAT... THIS WILL HAPPEN AND THAT WOULD BE TERRIBLE!!!! I actually have found myself almost wishing that I had never asked God to make himself clear and tell me what to do. Because he definitely did speak to me, in a way that was incredibly clear, and told me exactly what I should do!! Only, it wasn't what I was hoping he'd tell me.

And this is why we can only obey God and overcome sin in our lives through faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Because what God is telling me to do goes against all of my instincts; the only way I can do it is because I have faith in God. I have faith that he understands more than I; that his will is perfect and that as I step out in obedience I can be sure all things will work together for his Glory and ultimately my good. Whenever I start to worry about doing what God has told me to do, I just think back to how clearly God spoke to me. I think about how he answered my prayer for direction in such a real way, probably in way that is more obvious than I have ever experienced before in my life. And this reassures me that I can step out and obey. I can follow Jesus, even though I am not sure why or where I'm going. If I know that it was HE that spoke to me, then that is all I need to know. Because if I do as He tells me, there is nothing I need to fear. God is with me, guiding me, comforting me, and loving me. THAT is all I need.