A God who knows the way!

By Helen Jesze, 19^th January 2019

It was 2 nd May, several years ago. We had been ministering during the whole of April in Holland and were driving back to Kaiserslautern, Germany, where we lived at that time. As we came near to Venlo, we realised we were approaching the border from a different angle. As we stopped at the traffic-lights, George jumped out and ran to ask directions from the driver in the car behind us. The thought came to me: “Why is he doing that?! Can’t he see the sign for Venlo?!” and I started to feel impatient. George jumped in again just as the lights changed, and said, “We’ve got to follow him!”

The man pulled out and we followed. Suddenly he drove into a small road right off the main road, through twisting turns and private streets. I wondered where he was taking us, and was sure George had made a mistake! Then we stopped and a face appeared at the window.

“I live just here so I know it very good. You goes on the right-hand side, up the stairs, then 500 metres and you are in Germany by the Nr. 61 Autobahn!” (Meaning: I live just here so I know it very well. You take the right-hand lane, up the hill, then 500 metres and you are in Germany on the Nr. 61 Autobahn!) With a cheery grin he hopped into his car and drove off.

Just at the right time with George listening to the Holy Spirit to ask the man, brought us on a much shorter route to the road we were looking for. This was a big help in a journey which normally took from 6-10 hours, depending on traffic and weather conditions. This was also the days before we had a Satnav (GPS).George had also remembered that several roads round Venlo were blocked off and the traffic diverted because of road-works, so it had been a wise move. Coincidence? Hardly, for this man actually lived on the shorter route, and was willing to help us. It could have been somebody else in the car behind, who had no idea.

The Children of Israel came out of Egypt and wandered in the desert for 40 years on their way to the Promised Land of Canaan. God guided them by going before during the day as a pillar of cloud, and as a pillar of fire by night. This was general direction, but there were many places where God gave specific details in his guidance.

We are now in a new year and have never passed this way before. As Christians, it is so important to ask God for his guidance. Sometimes he gives this just when we are needing it; other times, he starts putting things in place, moving other things and people out of the way, tying up details, opening doors – long before we actually come to need them. He is the God who sees Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and knows what he is doing.

In December 1939, the German Nazi army was running rampant across Europe and now threatened to invade Great Britain. It was a grave, critical time, but in his Christmas and New Year message to the people of Great Britain and The Commonwealth, King George VI quoted some lines from the poem God knows ( Later called: The Gate of the Year) by Minnie Louise Haskins. It had been brought to his attention by his 13 year old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, now our present Queen.

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown,” and he replied, “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light, and safer than a known way.”

Every one of us, wherever we live in the world, can know for certain that our God will lead us on the right way, as we follow his directions. We in Great Britain, with Parliament in disarray and the date for Brexit and leaving the European Union just a few weeks away, desperately need his help and mercy. Let me encourage you that He has helped before and will do it again, whatever challenges we face.

Prayer: Thank you, Heavenly Father, that as we make the conscious decision to place our hand in yours in a new way, in this first month of 2019, you will cause darkness to become light before us, and our feet to be strong and not stumble, although the way is as yet unknown. Help us to follow the direction of your Holy Spirit and to trust, even when it might seem illogical to our natural mind, we pray in the Name of Jesus, Amen.