City Life Starter

Written by Aisha Darwesh

The Word

¹⁸ But the lovers of God walk on the highway of light, 

and their way shines brighter and brighter

until the perfect day.

¹⁹ But the wicked walk in thick darkness,

like those who travel in fog,

and yet don’t have a clue why they keep stumbling!

Proverbs 4:18-19 (The Passion Translation)

⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. ⁸ They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” ⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked (stubborn, rebellious) people.

Exodus 32:7-9 (Amplified)

Aisha’s Analysis

From the above verses in Proverbs 4, we see the path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter. Why? Because the righteous are walking in close fellowship with God and want to learn His ways. 

However, walking with God comes at a cost. His way is not always intuitive or easy. But the moment you take one step in His direction, you see the beauty and radiance of His light that leads to life. Your path gets brighter and brighter as you walk towards Him. 

One thing you must be willing to do when walking with God is be flexible. Walking with God requires a willingness to change direction in order to continue following Him. If you choose to go your own way, you might miss God. At some point you have to decide what’s more important to you: going your own way or being with God. 

In the story of the Israelites depicted in the verses of Exodus 32 above, the people refused to wait on God, turned aside from God’s commands, and turned their hearts away from Him worshiping a golden calf. God referred to them as “stiff-necked, stubborn, and rebellious” people. Throughout the wilderness, the people were more concerned with the condition of their lives than their relationship with God. 

However, repentance is what connects us back to God no matter how far we’ve strayed. Repentance paves the way to a right relationship. Even if you have rebelled against God choosing to go your own way rather than trusting His, you can turn around and change direction at any point. 

Allow Him to set you on the right path. There’s no one better to walk with than God. He’s faithful and true. He will never lead you astray. No matter what pops up along your path, He’ll be there to guide you through it. Choose to follow God, and never look back.

Application

Being with God and walking with Him means your path should be getting brighter. In what ways have you strayed from God and His ways? Even something as seemingly harmless as becoming too busy for God is actually extremely detrimental to your relationship with Him. 

Consider this moment a crossroads in your journey. Evaluate where you are actually going. What is the end goal? Take this advice from Luke 12 and apply it to your life starting today:

^29-32 “What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.

Luke 12:29-32 MSG

Prayer

Father God, thank You for guiding my path. You are a skilled navigator, and I trust Your sense of direction even if it doesn’t make any sense to me right now. Where You lead, I’ll follow. In Jesus’ name, Amen.