When God is Behind Rather Than in Front

[Dan R. Crawford]

I was recently faced with a major decision concerning my future. I realized that the older I got the fewer options I had, and this one was complicated because it involved financial issues. In the midst of the decision, as I was listening for God’s directions, I read Isaiah 30 as a part of my daily Bible reading. When I got to verse 21, I had to pause, as if it were written just for me. “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it’.” “Behind,” I wondered. It sure would be easier to know God’s will if He would speak to me in front, rather than behind. However, this was not a first-time experience for me. Several times in my life I have been forced to make a decision without a clear understanding of God’s direction. Each time, I made the decision based on the best understanding of the situation and what I thought, but did not know for sure, God would have me do. Each time, almost immediately following the decision, God affirmed my actions. In other words, God spoke “behind” my decision rather than in front of it. Perhaps this is what the Danish philosopher, theologian, and religious author, Soren Kierkegaard, meant when he said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”