When I was dating my now husband, I had many moments of wanting to turn and run in the other direction. I felt like I was getting closer and closer to him, was clearly headed in the direction of life with him, but was still unsure if it was what God had for me. So I felt like I was either getting farther and farther along the path God had for me, OR I was getting farther and farther off track with each day I continued on in the relationship. 

One thing I knew: God was too good to let me wander far into danger when I was doing my best to seek His will for me. I repeated Psalm 37:23-24 over and over again in my mind. I trusted that, even if I stumbled and things didn’t work out, that I would not be destroyed. I claimed that “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced.” (Romans 10:11, NLT) 

These truths kept me steadily showing up and moving forward. And as I did, I actually saw God affirming and confirming the relationship. 

Like a horse and rider, the slight body movement of the rider can actually direct the horse. There might be a slight shift of direction or a sudden halt, but an observer may not even see the rider cueing the horse to change movement. That is the way that God wants to guide us. But the rider won’t get anywhere with a horse that is fearful. I had a horse that would do anything, but he was scared of everything. Water, wood planks, shadows, and more. When he was afraid, he would either freeze up, ignoring my directions, or he would suddenly bolt in a different direction. I won many prizes with that horse, but I also fell off of him many times. 

We can’t be led by God if we are paralyzed with fear of failure or being “wrong”. We need to walk in enough trust to keep walking forward, knowing that we won’t be led into a trap. If we need to be heading in a different direction, God will either give us an opportunity for a U-turn or He will gradually give us course corrections. If He doesn’t do that, we might just be on the right path and He will make it clear over time. Halting or bolting out of fear is just as disobedient as moving forward without God.