God-ordered Steps

My beloved kiddos, 1993

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way." (Psalm 37:23)

Summer of 1993, Phillip's job required a family move from Pine Bluff, Arkansas to Shreveport, Louisiana. So with Phillip at the wheel, our kids in the back seat, and my Bible in my lap, we headed southwest in search of the new home God had for us.

God-ordered step #1:

The first decision was whether to live on the east side of the Red River in Bossier City or the west side in Shreveport. Before we searched those cities, however, we searched the Word of God and found:

 "Your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which He did. Therefore shall you keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land...by the way where the sun goes down" (Deut. 11). 

The sun goes down in the west, so we headed to Shreveport.

God-ordered step #2:

"Lord, where should we look in Shreveport?" 

"But the land, whither you go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks water of the rain of heaven" (Deut. 11:11). 

Shreveport's Cross Lake drinks water, so we looked near it.

God-ordered step #3:

After searching all day to no avail, I closed my eyes and prayed, "Lord, what should we do now?" When I opened my eyes, the billboard right in front of my face said: Need direction? Come to Willow Point Baptist Church. 

So we exited the freeway and pulled into the parking lot of that church just as Sonny DePrang, the interim pastor, was locking up to go home that Friday evening. Pastor DePrang prayed for us, encouraged us with the Scripture: a house is yet a small thing in the sight of the Lord (2 Samuel 7:18-19), and then instructed us to come to the worship service that Sunday. He said that God would show us what to do. 

We went to Willow Point that Sunday, and at the end of the worship service, Pastor DePrang announced that a family was in need of a house and if anyone had one to rent, come meet them at the altar. Someone did. And we moved to Shreveport a few weeks later.

The End of this amazing God-story? NOPE!

God-ordered step #4:

After living in Shreveport a mere three weeks, on the very day I finished unpacking and carried the last of the boxes to the curb for pickup, Phillip called from the office and said, "You're not going to believe this. I've been transferred to Birmingham, Alabama!"

"But the Lord clearly led us here!" I argued.

In Sunday school that Sunday, the focal Scripture verses were James 4:13-15: 

"Look here, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.' How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning mist - it's here a little while, then it's gone. What you ought to say is, 'If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." 

The next week, we moved to sweet home Alabama.

Need direction??? Talk to God and read the Bible!

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:105)