8 I will instruct you and show you the way to go;
with my eye on you, I will give counsel. (Psalms 32:8 CSB)

How often I have wanted for the Lord to speak to me directly. To tell me the way He wants me to go so that there is no mistaking His clear and direct communication. But today, I believe God does more to provide subtle direction rather than direct instruction.

I have known some who will say, “God told me this”, and forgive me, I am always skeptical. Now, in hindsight, I will say that God has directed my path often in life. But rarely did I see that direction when it was happening. Possibly, had He talked to me directly, I would have thought I was actually going mad. And I think God realizes in today’s world that would be how one would be perceived.

I think about reading Mother Teresa’s account of her encounter with Christ on a train to Darjeeling and how she yearned for it to be repeated throughout her life. In fact, she wrote, because it was such an intimate encounter that later in life she questioned her faith due to never experiencing it again. But she also recounts a life filled with God’s direction.

What she found, and what we must understand, is that it is more important that we be open to His guidance more than expecting His answers. Sometimes the questions in our lives are more about our growth and God leaves them unanswered so that we can experience His instruction.

It could well be that God’s direct communication is in the road He is having us build not only for ourselves, but for others as well.