To know if you’re on the right path in life, you must first, and honestly, ask yourself:
1) Am I in active disobedience or rebellion against what I know to be good and true?
- If your answer to the first question is no, then you may ask yourself the second:
2. Has God opened any other doors, or is this the only path that seems clearly set before me at the moment?
You must first ask yourself if you are in active disobedience because, if the answer is yes, then you are, almost certainly, not on the right path. It should not take too much reflection to honestly answer this question. Your spirit will speak to you before your mind finds time to justify your sins. Your spirit will softly whisper a conviction you will feel in your heart, and you must not allow your mind time to refute this conviction. Listen to your heart, listen to your conscience, and you will know if you are living in active rebellion against what is good and true.
I know this may not be an easy task for everyone. Listening to the soft and quiet nudges in our hearts takes practice. So, if you are still unsure if you are living in active disobedience, I will list a few sins I know to be common for our time and our current culture. Are you having premarital or extramarital sex? Are you frequently indulging in drunkenness, drugs, or other substances? Are you beefing with someone and refuse to be reconciled? Are you consistently and without regard using profane language, dressing immodestly, seeking attention, blaming God for your misfortunes, or idolizing money, material goods, careers, success, or even yourself? If your answer to any of these questions is a resounding yes, suffice to say you are actively living in disobedience.
God wants us to do good in our lives. In the creation story in Genesis, God created us as good. If you are intentionally and consciously choosing what you know not to be good in your life, God is calling you to turn back and walk along a more righteous and holy path. Proverbs 4:26-27 (NIV) states, “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” Yes, keep your foot from evil, indeed.
Now, if you’re at the stage in your life where you feel like you’re making a true and honest attempt at obedience, righteousness, and holiness, you may still wonder if you are on the right path. Just because you’re not on the wrong path doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on the right one, right? Of course there are hundreds of thousands of good and wonderful paths in life, so the question is, which one is right for you?
If this is where you’re at, I urge you to consider the question “Has God opened any other doors, or is the current path I’m on the only path that seems clearly set before me at the moment?” If you are earnest seeking God at this time in you’re life and he has not opened any other doors, it is likely because he wants you to stay exactly where you’re at. God often calls us to stillness, and for a variety of reasons, but oftentimes it is to build community, connections, or character wherever you are at in life. Just like a plant, we can only grow in the stillness. Image you took a freshly planted seed and dug it up and moved it to a new pot every 30 seconds. It would probably have a pretty hard time sprouting and growing roots if you asked me. The seed would never grow and the pretty flower would never blossom. If you see no immediate need to move, or you hear no new calling from God, then he is calling to stay still and grow where you are. Keep in mind also that, just as the majority of a plant’s life is called to this same exact stillness, so too, is yours. If you are not totally sure where you’re at in life, chances are, you are probably here.
Now, we know that sometimes, God is calling us to change. Sometimes he will put a new path in front of us when we least expect it. We may get a spontaneous job offer from across the country, we may meet a new person that completely changes our lives, or we may go through something which sparks a major transition in life like graduation, marriage, kids, sickness or death. These changes may be welcomed, or they may feel like complete disruptions to everything we know and hold dear. Either way, though, they come for us all. These are the moments in life when we really should be asking ourselves “Am I on the right path?” You should let God speak to you and guide every single one of your steps towards the direction he would like for you to go in.
These moments are likely to come when, as plants, you’ve become too big for your pot. You’ve grown so much in life that you’re actually ready and able to take on the next stage, which may feel scary, but it is an inevitable and unavoidable part of reality. Getting in the habit of embracing this reality when it comes is, in large part, what it means to stay on the right path. Once you’re able to embrace the reality of change, you can go to God and ask him for discernment on which path was made specifically for you to follow. In these moments, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV). God also tells us in Psalm 32:8 (NIV) “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” What a wonderful and exciting promise! You never have to guess what it is God desires for you; he will just tell you.
Finally, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” (Isaiah 30:21 NIV). Listen to the voice of God and follow his path! Because you wouldn’t ever guess where it leads.
Heaven.
Finding Your Faith 