God Draws Straight with Crooked Lines (Proverbs 20:24)
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Proverbs 20:24
A man's steps are from the Lord;
how then can man understand his way?
I really enjoy meditating on this verse. It shows us, or maybe better said reinforces, two main principles and truths:
God’s power and sovereignty over everything.
Man’s dependence and helplessness.
It is so humbling to me to know how little control we have. It’s also so freeing. This verse doesn’t serve to discourage us from making plans and pursuing them, but it does let us know and should serve as a reminder of who is directing our steps.
Jeremiah 10:23 says ‘the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.’ It’s the Lord who does that.
Now this verse isn’t telling us to sit back and do nothing. It’s not saying ‘Just let go and let God.’ No, as Charles Bridges puts it, this verse encourages ‘dependence without passivity; diligence without presumption or self-confidence.’ That’s the balance. We are still free to do as we please, but the Lord in His providence will reign over it all and direct our steps.
I love what the Lord says in Isaiah 42:16, which I think relates to Proverbs 20:24. He says:
‘And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.’
You know what God is saying there? ‘I will draw straight with crooked lines.’ And doesn’t He? Think back on your life – have you ever gone through a crazy season where you had no clue what was next? You felt like you were being pulled in every direction. But now, looking back, you see it? You look back and go, ‘O yeah, God was making my paths straight. I see it now.’ Or, to put it in Gen Z language, ‘I understand it now’.
That’s often how God works. He draws straight paths for your life with crooked lines. But He’s drawing straight.
Even if you don’t understand your way in the moment, you can trust Him.
And if you are in Him, walking with Him, you can be encouraged and freed to walk and plan and act knowing He will do that for you. He will direct and place your steps. He will make straight your paths.
So all of that leads me to ask you today:
Do you trust God? Really trust Him?
Trust Him enough to keep walking, even when the road makes no sense?
Trust Him enough to stay dependent, without being passive?
Trust Him enough to keep moving forward, knowing He’s making your paths straight – even if they feel crooked?
Even if you can’t understand your way?
Is it enough for you to know that God understands your way and is establishing it?
Let’s take these thoughts to the Lord in prayer.
