I recently read the verse Isaiah 30:21: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.””

It was a lightbulb moment for me.  I’ve always heard the teachings about keeping our eyes on Jesus and following Him (a very good way to live).  I’ve also heard and experienced the teachings about God giving us free choice – to choose where and how we live and work and rest within certain Biblical and Godly guidelines.  (Just because we’re saved doesn’t give us the right to go out and do anything we want to!)  There has always been a bit of a mental gap between the two teachings for me: they’re both true, but how do you live them both out simultaneously?

This verse sums up both keeping our eyes on Jesus and making choices in life: Whether we choose option A or option B, God is still behind us, telling us which road to take.  Even in our own choices, God is still directing us.  We just have to listen to Him.

The best part is that we don’t have to be afraid of the choices before us.  It’s so easy for over-thinkers like me to get caught up in the “what ifs” and “which should I choose?” and “what is God saying?”  Those are all good questions.  But they can create a fear of making the wrong choice, especially when the consequences of the wrong choice are potentially devastating.  This verse is the comfort: no matter which choice I take, I know that God will be leading and directing me.

That’s not to say I can take choices lightly.  Or that I can take my eyes off Jesus because He’ll guide me even if I make my own selfish choices (that’s not a good idea at all).  But it takes the pressure off of me: As long as I’m following God, there will be that voice behind me saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

It’s like standing at a trail junction without a sign, trying to figure out which way to go.  Robert Frost wrote of such a junction in his poem “The Road Not Taken” – “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both…”  You may not know what is down either trail, but this verse promises that whichever fork of the trail you take, God will be there with you, guiding you and directing you to the best place for you to be.  He may tell you to take the right or left trail.  Or He might not tell you which to take, and tell you to choose.  (That’s the fun part of following God – it’s always an adventure.)  There’s no pressure to take the “right” trail when God is the one behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”