March 24

He led them on a straight path to reach a city where they could live. — Ps 107:7 BSB

When the Lord leads, we can follow. Though the path may be rough, if the Lord upholds us, we can walk in it without stumbling. Whatever He asks of us, we can do, provided we have His presence. Whatever He calls us to suffer, we can bear if we have the approval of a clear conscience and His approving smile. Oh, the wonders of sovereign grace! The cross ceases to be a burden if the Lord gives us the strength to carry it. Affliction is no affliction if the Lord sustains us through it. Trials are no longer trials if sweetened by His smile, and sorrow loses its sting if lightened by His love. It is our own fretfulness, unbelief, carnal reasoning, rebellion, and self-pity that make a rough path seem like the wrong one. But grace, in its conquering power, not only overcomes external difficulties but also triumphs over the greater challenges within.

One of the strongest principles of our faith is that every path, in the end, must be a right one if it is God’s way. According to the testimony of our own conscience, isn’t it a right way that leads us out of the world, out of sin, out of self, pride, and self-righteousness, and into all that is good, holy, gracious, and saving? Isn’t it right that we are conformed to the image of Christ, the Man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and made fit for the inheritance of the saints in light?

And what is the end of this leading and guiding? It is "that they might go to a city of habitation"—the new Jerusalem, the glorious city whose foundations are built by God. Some of our loved ones have already gone before us, and they now dwell as citizens of that blessed city made of pure gold, like clear glass. This city needs neither the sun nor the moon to shine in it, for the glory of the Lord is its light, and the Lamb is its lamp. This is the city of habitation where the saints will forever dwell. The Lord is leading each of His wilderness wanderers along the right way, so that He might bring them into His eternal presence and to the enjoyment of those pleasures that are at His right hand forevermore.