In the trenches

He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.


The Hebrew of this verse paints the picture of being constantly lead forward into the trenches of righteousness because God is interested in protecting His good reputation.


I understand that obedience is absolutely necessary for a successful life with God, but may I be honest? The idea of total surrender still makes my stomach hurt and my hands shake. Not surrender in things like where to live, what to drive, where to go to church, but surrender over my minute by minute will.

I am gripped with the fear that this type of surrender will take me places I am uncomfortable. What if I have to talk to someone about God? What if I have to open myself up to someone that hurts me? What if I have to be embarrassed, harassed, teased, hated, or frustrated?

He leads, not pushes, us into the trenches. He calls us to walk there with Him in order to bring glory to His name. I can't help but think of war here. The honor of His name calls for down and dirty, hunkered down, dangerous living. I prefer to skip along here and there listening to the calls all around me and turning from discomfort.

Perhaps righteousness is not clean, neat, or easy. Maybe, bringing glory to God calls for sacrifice, surrender, taking up your cross, and following after an outside of the box God.

He has put His very own, most holy name, on the line. He has adopted us into His family and tied our reputation with His. How bold! How risky! That would be like hiring a drug addicted murder to be the spokesman for your church. So He pursues hard, not forcing, but leading us in the path of righteousness. Offering the opportunity to be more than we could ever be alone.

It is a hauntingly tempting call to embrace sacrifice. So dangerous, so rewarding. Is He really worth crawling in the trenches of gritty righteousness, freely following God wherever He leads?