A Path That Seems Right

Jeremiah 17:9 warns that following your heart—that is, trusting your emotions to guide you—is a bad idea because the heart is deceitful and wicked. But what about your gut instinct, that little voice inside you that occasionally whispers, “Go for it”? Or occasionally shouts, “This is a really bad idea!” Some people refer to it as intuition or a “sixth sense.” And they’ll tell you it’s never steered them wrong yet. Everyone has a story about how their gut instinct kept them from making a decision they would have regretted. Or how it prompted them to take a risk that paid off big time.

Gut instinct seems trustworthy because it’s the voice of experience. It’s the diploma from the School of Hard Knocks. As you experience things—good and bad—in life, you start to get a sense of how things work, whether you realize it or not. You start to recognize which paths lead to greener pastures and which ones lead to regret. So when you’re faced with a dilemma or choice, that hard-earned wisdom makes itself known through gut instinct. Or so the thinking goes.

The problem is, you can’t trust your gut. I don’t know about you, but my gut gets me into trouble. When I’m hungry in the evening as I’m driving home, my mind says, “You should just have a nice salad.” My gut says Taco Bell.

You can’t trust your gut instinct because it doesn’t give you the perspective you need. No matter how much you’ve experienced in life, you don’t have the wisdom to know what tomorrow will bring. Gut instinct is the result of past performance. And as any investor will tell you, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Proverbs 16:25 cuts right to the heart of the matter: “There is a path before each person that seems right” (NLT, emphasis added). Relying on gut instinct is dangerous guesswork. A path that ends in death may seem right deep down in your gut.

Proverbs 3:5–6 offers a better plan: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (NLT). God’s perspective isn’t limited at all. He can see your future as well as your past. He knows exactly where every path leads. He knows the destination that will bring you ultimate joy and fulfillment, and He knows each stop along the way.

God’s path leads to abundant life. That’s why you can trust Him with all your heart.

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