I am amused whenever I remember the question a woman, my mother ‘s friend, asked me in 1956, when I was at home on holidays from school. I was visiting my uncle and this woman met me on the way, stopped and asked, “Where are you going?”
I politely replied that I was visiting my uncle. She smiled at my innocent error and rephrased the question, “I mean you’re growing too tall for your age. Where are you growing to?” Then I understood what she meant.
Indeed, the question, “where are you going?” appears simple but I have found it to be very compelling for everyone to answer rightly. It is actually one of the most important questions in life. Inability to answer it correctly is responsible for nearly all failures in all aspects of life.
By failure, I mean not going in the direction God has already determined. It could be in business, marriage, family, health, education, relocating to another town or country, choosing a career, investments, travelling, belonging to social groups, making friends, and so on. There is no limit to the areas in which people can fail or succeed.
Today, many people waste their lives going in the wrong direction of life and doing things they are not supposed to be doing and consequently becoming the persons they are not created to be. Since they do not know where they are going, they can take any route or direction. Such people cannot offer the right answer to the critical question, “Where are you going?”
The place you’re going is your destination, where God has already arranged for you, as His child. God desires to show you the way to your destination. In Psalm 32:8, He promises, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” I love the New Living Translation version, which says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”
God is able to guide us because He sees what we cannot see and knows what we do not know. He knows and desires the best for us. No human being can guide and direct us as God. Therefore, if we put our trust in Him, follow His instructions and apply His principles, we must succeed in everything we do. We will know exactly where we are going and subsequently arrive at our destination. We can never stumble or fall. Joshua 1:8 (NIV) says, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Many a time, we wish someone long life and prosperity but mere wishing cannot guarantee long life and prosperity for anyone. The Bible has made it very clear what one should do to enjoy prosperity and success.
There is no doubt that if you know where you are going, you will be prosperous and successful. Have you ever missed your way to an important function? Recently, a speaker at one of our programmes arrived very late, visibly frustrated. He apologised that the GPS had misdirected him because he didn’t know the way to the venue. In the same way, many people miss God’s blessings because they do not have divine guidance and direction.
People who know where they are going make the best use of their time and resources because they remain focused and refuse to be distracted or diverted from their course. The resources provided by God are meant to be used to give Him glory. One of the commonest prayers of Christians is for the provision of needs. I believe that God considers how the provisions at our disposal are being deployed before granting the request for more.
Those who know where they are going put their resources at God’s pleasure, knowing full well that He is the giver of all we have. There is nothing good we have that God has not given us. When God says that we should give Him back 10 per cent of what He has given us, He is only testing our faithfulness and understanding of the sources of our wealth.
The knowledge of where you are going can only be obtained when you have sincerely accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, by asking Him for forgiveness of sins and requesting Him to come into your heart.
