God Knows Every Road
Free Will, Wrong Turns, and a Calling That Still Remains
Verses Used
Proverbs 3:5–6
Romans 8:28
Galatians 6:7
John 16:13
Luke 23:39–43
Job 42:10–12
Devotional
Before I get into this one, I want to say something up front.
This devotional is based on my understanding of God, Scripture, free will, and the Holy Spirit. Other Christians may see parts of this differently. I could even be wrong about some of it. I am still learning. I am still growing. I don't have God completely figured out, and I don't think any of us do.
But this is where my study, my experiences, and my relationship with God have led me so far.
I believe God has given us free will.
I can choose left or right.
I can choose to obey God or ignore Him.
I can choose to do something good, or I can choose to do something completely stupid.
And yes, I have done both. LOL.
I believe the Holy Spirit is here to guide us toward the decision that is within God's will. The Holy Spirit does not grab us by the neck and force us down the right road. He guides. He nudges. He warns. He brings conviction.
For me personally, sometimes that feels almost like a gut feeling.
When I know I am doing something I probably should not be doing, there can be this unrest inside me. Almost like my gut is saying, "Luke... this ain't it."
Other times, when I believe I am making the right decision, there is peace.
Am I perfect at recognizing that?
NOPE.
Not even close.
I am still learning the difference between what I want and where God is leading. Sometimes I listen. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I make the right decision, and sometimes I make a decision that sends me down a road I probably never needed to travel.
That is free will.
Does God Know Which Road We Will Take?
This is where my personal understanding may be different from someone else's.
I fully believe God knows everything. I believe He knows every possible road, every consequence, every outcome, and where every decision could eventually lead.
But I also believe our choice is real.
If I am standing at a fork in the road, God knows exactly where the left road goes and exactly where the right road goes.
I still have to choose.
Maybe you understand God's foreknowledge differently. That's okay. Christians have debated this stuff for a very long time.
What matters for this devotional is this:
Our choices matter.
God did not make us robots.
The Holy Spirit can lead us toward God's will, but we can still say no.
We can delay our calling.
We can run from it.
We can make decisions that take us miles away from where God wanted us.
And I believe someone could spend their entire life refusing the calling God placed on them.
The Calling Doesn't Move. We Do.
I believe every one of us has something God calls us to.
I don't believe that means there is one perfectly predetermined road where every turn has already been forced upon us.
I believe God has a calling.
We have choices.
And those choices affect how quickly—or whether—we ever walk into that calling.
Looking back at my own life, I can see places where I could have made completely different decisions.
I wish I had come back to God sooner.
I wish I had stayed closer to Him.
I sometimes wonder where I would be today if I had listened sooner.
Maybe I would be farther into what God has called me to do.
But here's the weird part:
I also love where I am today.
I love what I believe God is doing in my life. And I know that some of the things I went through helped shape me into the person I am today.
So then I have to ask:
If I had made different choices, would I have needed some of those lessons?
I don't know.
Sometimes I think God allows us to walk into the consequence of a bad decision because there is something we need to learn there.
That doesn't mean God caused the sin.
It doesn't mean He wanted us to choose wrong.
Maybe the better question is:
Did God need the storm, or did God simply refuse to waste it?
I lean toward the second one.
Forgiven Does Not Always Mean Free From Consequences
This is another thing I think we sometimes misunderstand.
God can forgive your sin and you can still face the consequences of what you did.
Let's make this extremely simple.
If I rob a store and later truly repent, I believe Jesus can forgive me.
But guess what?
I am probably still going to jail.
God's forgiveness doesn't magically make man's law disappear.
Galatians reminds us that we reap what we sow.
There are consequences to choices.
You can be forgiven and still have to rebuild trust.
You can be forgiven and still owe money.
You can be forgiven and still have a criminal record.
You can be forgiven and still have a relationship that never comes back.
You can be forgiven and still live with something that changed your earthly life permanently.
I do believe God can sometimes lighten a consequence.
I also believe sometimes He may allow us to walk through the full consequence because there is something we need to learn.
Either way, forgiveness and earthly consequences are not the same thing.
But What If I Really Messed Up?
This is where I want somebody to hear me.
Maybe you are looking at your life thinking:
"I missed it."
"I made too many bad decisions."
"God can't use me now."
"I wasted too much time."
As politely as I can say this...
I believe you're wrong.
Look at the thief on the cross.
That man did not have twenty years left to repair his life.
He couldn't go make everything right.
He couldn't build a ministry.
He couldn't spend the next decade proving himself.
He turned to Jesus.
And Jesus received him.
As long as you are still here, I believe there is still time to turn toward God.
If you're sitting there worried that God could never forgive you, that concern itself tells me your heart still cares about God.
Your story is not over.
Can Our Choices Permanently Change Our Life?
Absolutely.
There are decisions we can make that permanently change our earthly life.
But I don't believe our mistakes are more powerful than God.
Romans 8:28 tells us God works things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
That does not mean everything that happens is good.
There's a huge difference.
God turning something for good does not mean God calls the original thing good.
He can take something broken and use it.
He can take a jail cell and turn it into the place somebody finally meets Jesus.
He can take a destroyed relationship and teach someone how to love differently.
He can take a failure and turn it into wisdom.
He can take years of wandering and turn them into a testimony that reaches somebody else.
The wrong road does not suddenly become the right road because God used it.
It simply means God is bigger than the road.
What About Lost Time?
I think about Job.
Job lost almost everything.
God eventually restored him.
But restoration didn't mean God rewound time and gave him the exact same life back.
Restoration can look different.
And I don't know whether God always restores the years we delay.
Maybe some opportunities really are lost.
Maybe our calling could have grown farther if we had listened earlier.
Or maybe God can change everything overnight and suddenly accomplish in a short period what we thought would take decades.
I don't know.
That's one of those things where I have to say:
God knows. I don't.
What I do believe is that if God called you to something, the calling doesn't simply disappear because you took a detour.
The calling doesn't move. We do.
And when we finally stop running and turn toward Him, God still knows the road.
Fear God—but Understand What That Means
I also believe we should fear God.
That doesn't mean I walk around terrified that God is waiting for an excuse to destroy me.
Think about a downed power line.
You fear it.
Not because the wire personally hates you.
You respect it because you understand the power it carries.
God is the ultimate power.
With a thought, everything we know could cease to exist.
That's worth reverence.
That's worth respect.
And yet this incredibly powerful God loves us.
He forgives us.
He sent Jesus for us.
He gives us chance after chance to turn toward Him.
God's rules are real.
His judgment is real.
But so is His grace.
God Knows Every Road
Maybe you're standing at a fork today.
Maybe you're already twenty miles down the wrong road.
Maybe you're looking backward thinking:
"Man... I could have gotten here so much sooner."
I understand that feeling.
But don't spend so much time staring backward that you miss where the Holy Spirit is trying to lead you today.
Listen.
Learn.
Repent when you need to.
Accept the consequences when they come.
Grow from them.
And keep moving toward God.
You may not know which road lies ahead.
God does.
You may even choose the wrong one.
But if you turn back toward Him, He still knows the way home.
Your choices matter.
Your consequences are real.
Your mistakes can delay you.
But your mistakes do not automatically cancel your calling.
God is still God.
And your story is not over.
Action
Think about one area of your life where you know you are standing at a decision.
Don't immediately ask, "What do I want?"
Ask:
"Holy Spirit, which direction brings me closer to God's will?"
And if you already know you've taken the wrong road, stop convincing yourself that you're too far gone.
Turn around.
The road back may not erase every consequence.
But you can still start walking toward God today.
Prayer
Father,
Thank You for giving me free will, even though I don't always use it wisely.
Help me recognize the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Help me know the difference between what I want and where You are leading me.
When I make the wrong decision, give me the humility to admit it, repent, face the consequences, learn from it, and turn back toward You.
Thank You for not wasting my storms.
Thank You for being able to bring good even from the places where I made a mess.
Help me stop believing that my mistakes are bigger than Your grace.
Lead me toward the calling You have for my life.
And when I don't know which road to take, remind me that You know every road.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
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