Setting Your Course Right

By Brian Houston

I love the beginning of a new year. It is a great opportunity to look back at the year that was, assess the varied aspects of your life - spiritual, emotional, financial, relational, physical - and set the course for the year ahead.

You never arrive at a particular destination by accident. Life is a series of decisions that carry us in a certain direction.

How often have you heard people say: “If only I had made a different decision?” It is amazing how everything seems so much clearer in hindsight. The reality is that you don’t often see the consequences of your choices until further down the track.

While it may not be possible to change your past, you can change your future. Wisdom is always crying out to bring positive change in our lives.

“Does not wisdom cry out and understanding lift her voice? She takes her stand on top of the hill, beside the way, where the paths meet.” (Proverbs 8:1,2)

The place where two paths meet is significant because this is when the road on which you are travelling comes to an intersection or a crossroad. It is here that you have the opportunity to make a powerful choice - to stay on the same path or change direction.

I have heard many people testify about the time they came to a crossroad in life and changed the course of their future. Those who were heading down a road to destruction and ruin heard wisdom crying out and changed direction. They are blessed and prospering today because of one significant and courageous choice.

Not only does wisdom cry out to you at the crossroads but she also takes a stand ‘on the top of the high hill.’ You may think that greater wisdom is required when you are struggling at the bottom of a hill, but the fact is, the higher you go and the taller you stand, the more wisdom you need. The larger and more influential your life becomes, the greater the ramifications of every decision.

Wisdom is available to you whenever you need it. All you have to do is ask.

‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.’ (James 1:5)

© 2005 Brian Houston. Permission required to publish this article in any form.
Brian’s teaching on wisdom and building your life on wise choices is available here