Where He Leads I Will Follow: Do Not Turn to the Right or the Left

 

Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! Walk just as he has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land you are going to possess.  Deuteronomy 5:32-33

 Today’s verse starts out with a directive. “Do exactly what the LORD your God has commanded you…” It’s not a guideline, not a suggestion. He’s told us exactly what we are to do. Jesus clarified it for us in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” And in Galatians 5:14 it emphasizes, “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” So, what are we to do? Love others. Pure and simple. How are we to love them? What is that to look like? Jesus said that we are to love others in the same way that He loves us. Sacrificially. With kindness. Thinking of others more highly than ourselves.

 Deuteronomy goes on to warn us not to turn to the right or to the left. I believe this means the same thing as the beginning of the verse – we are to follow God’s commands exactly. Think back to the Garden. The serpent tempted Eve by saying, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) Now, obviously, this isn’t what God had said. He told them that there was only one tree that they were not to eat from, but the deceiver wanted to introduce a slightly different perspective to throw them off. Again, when tempting Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11, Satan threw out things that seemed like they could be legitimate. You’re hungry, turn these stones into bread. It’s in the Bible, if you really are the Son of God, you could fling yourself off this building and not be hurt. But, each time, Jesus saw through the challenge to the deception behind it. And that’s what we’re being called to do here. It’s very rare that we will be feasibly tempted by something that is blatantly against what we profess to believe. It’s much more likely that we’ll be presented with the opportunity to do something slightly different. 

 Since I began options trading, I’ve had a general commitment to do my Bible study first thing in the morning, before trading. When radiation therapy started, that put a kink in this plan. It’s not reasonable for me to try to get up in time to do my Bible study before we leave at 5:30am. That would require a monumental circadian rhythm shift, not something that can be done quickly or is necessarily recommended for a short season like this. Compounding this, for the last week or so, when I get home from treatment I’m wiped out. I’ll often set up to do Bible study and find myself dozing off over and over before caving in and crashing for a nap. The problem is, I’m often waking up from these naps after the market closes, meaning I wouldn’t get to trade at all. I’ve balanced this by doing a little trading on my phone at the hospital, but I really need to have focused time on my computer. Today, when we got home, I found that I had energy. My first impulse was to get some trading in. In fact I sat down and opened my computer to my trading site. But there was this little voice in the back of my head. Quite different from the voice of the tempter, this one was reminding me of my commitment to my Bible study first, then trading. “But what if I run out of energy though?” was the thought that occurred to me. Technically, I can do my Bible study in the afternoon, but trading has to happen in the morning. Here’s what I was reminded of, I needed to focus on where my treasure actually is, not in my trading account, but stored up in heaven. If I seek first God’s kingdom, everything else will find its place (Matthew 6:33). When I opened up my study and saw this verse for today, that impression was compounded x10! I was being tempted to turn to the right or the left. Not completely disobey, just reorder my priorities. But, in truth, that would be disobedience. If I had a conviction that I should do my Bible study first, and instead I did my trading first, I’m reasonably certain it wouldn’t have worked out well. Why?

 That is answered by the end of today’s passage, “that it may go well with you.” I think God used the term “go well” to be intentionally vague. You see, well for me might not be well for you. Sometimes what’s best for us isn’t what we would sign up for. Sometimes the lessons we need to learn are hard, painful even. But our perfect loving Father knows what is best for us, and that is the path He is leading us down. I believe that path for me includes radiation therapy. Most people wouldn’t categorize this as “going well,” but God knows. He knows what I need to grow personally. He knows how my testimony and witness will best grow. He knows who needs to see and hear my testimony. And, as I explored a while back, maybe this isn’t even about me. Maybe God is just using things in my life to play out things for others around me. As much as I’ve had dreams and aspirations, I want God’s dreams for me much more. I want His will, His best. That is the “go well” that I seek when I obey Him. I’m not trying to earn His favor or my salvation, those were already purchased and provided for me and nothing I can do can improve on that. In obeying, I’m recognizing that God knows best and I’m believing with my actions that following Him will get me to the best possible outcome.

Here’s the Thing: Drowsy as I am, I’m glad I did my Bible study first. I think it’s placed my heart in the right posture. I feel more at peace. Even if I don’t have enough juice in me to do trading today, God will work out those details. And maybe, He saved me from a trade I shouldn’t have made!

P.S. Looking back on this day later as I'm publishing this, this became my most profitable trading day I've had to date! I'd say that "went well" 😉