We are walking a path that we have never walked before. Although I have been doing The Shepherd’s Guide for 32 years, we are walking in uncharted territory. So how do we proceed, how do we know what to do, which path to take? I relate very closely to Peter in Matthew 14, when he saw Jesus walking on the water.

Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” ²⁹ “Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.

I find myself saying to God, if The Shepherd’s Guide is really of you, if you really want it to continue, tell me to come to you. And I hear Jesus saying, Come, walk with me. And as we walk step by step with him, it is almost like we are walking on the water. We don’t know how we are able to continue to do what we do, but we are still walking.

³⁰ But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.
³¹ Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” Matthew 14:28-31 NLT

And there are times of doubt, when I get my eyes off Jesus and look too closely at the circumstances around me, like Peter, I am terrified, and I feel myself start to sink.  And then, as Peter did, I cry out to Jesus, Save me, Lord, and He reaches out his handed and grabs me and puts me back on my feet again. And He gently says to me, You have so little faith, Why do you doubt me? Have I not brought you this far, will you not trust me to complete the journey I have started?

Our only security is our relationship with Jesus. If we take our eyes off Him, we will sink. But the good news is that when we cry out to Him, He will reach out and grab our hand before we sink.

There are several images God has given us throughout the Bible that speak to me in this season.  When the Israelites had wandered around in the desert for forty years and were finally about to cross the Jordan river, this was Joshua’s instruction to the people,

“When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. ⁴ Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Joshua 3:3,4 NLT

What was to guide the people of Israel into this new territory was the presence of God. This was what Moses said to God earlier when they were still in the desert.

Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.” Exodus 33:15 NLT

It is God’s presence alone that sets us apart, that gives us favor with those we talk to.  So it is critical that we hear God clearly as we navigate this new journey that we are on. But God promises us that we will direct us.

Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. Isaiah 30:21 NLT

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8 NLT

Psalm 123:2 tells the posture, the way we must position ourselves in our relationship with our Father.

We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal. Psalm 123:2 NLT

We want to be attentive to His slightest signal, to hear His voice telling us to turn to the right or the left. Our relationship with Him and our ability to hear Him is the only confidence we have. Our confidence is not in our 32 years of experience, or our business ability, our confidence is in Him and His direction.

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. John 10:3,4 NLT

Our task is to follow the voice of our Shepherd.