Follow the Leader

Not long ago, our son was driving on a lonely highway at night in the middle of a snowstorm. Eyes firmly on the wheel and eyes straining to see, he carefully followed the car in front of him.

​He was approaching his turn when suddenly the lead car did a nose dive into the ditch and the car behind followed suit. Both cars facedown, he quickly readjusted his driving from relying on the cars in front of him to taking a different way.

​Driving in a snowstorm when you cannot see always feels safer if you are following another car. The only problem is, there is always a car at the front of the line with a driver who cannot see any more clearly than anyone else. Trusting the eyes of the driver at the front of the line caused the demise of the second driver. In a snowstorm, you do not want to follow the wrong person. We do this in life all of the time.

Jeremiah 17:5 says, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man.’” The nation of Israel continually put their trust in their own selves and what those around them were saying. They knew God’s laws yet adjusted them to fit their own lifestyles and their own understanding. They put more trust in their own wisdom than what God said was best for them. Their disobedience revealed where their trust truly rested.

Ultimately, they trusted in the wisdom of man over the wisdom of God and following man over God led to their demise. Their demise alerted them to the fact they were following the wrong leader. God always reveals to heal and His purposes are always restorative. Their difficulties were meant to refocus their attention back on God so they could readjust their trust. A life of trusting God is how we were created to live. The fruit of trust is always obedience. We will obey or live our lives according to where our trust lies. We follow who we trust; who we obey reveals who we trust.

We may be tempted to wonder how the Israelites could be so unwise, but we easily fall into this way of living all the time. We often formulate our ideas about life based on what the culture around us is saying, what we read on the internet, what our family says, what our ‘group’ says and our own ideas. Trusting in man will always lead to heartache and a life that is easily thrown off track by whatever idea is prominent at the time, our circles and our own ideas.

Instead, God has invited us to live a life of growing trust in Him. Trust is learned over time and through a daily life of interaction with Him. We do this by making space for Him and allowing Him to change our ideas about how life works. Humility with God opens the door for trust in God to be built in our lives. Readjusting trust takes time and intention.

​Sometimes we have driven into the ditch and experienced broken relationships, failures, disappointments and hard life circumstances. Not all of these are the result of our own driving, but sometimes they are. Developing the habit of looking at the hard spaces in our lives and asking God for wisdom, gives an opportunity for us to readjust our trust in that area from man and our own ways to God’s.

​Much of our heartache comes from placing our trust in the wrong thing. God is more than willing and more than able to help us more fully trust in Him.

““This is what the LORD says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
​Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NIV)

About the Author

Hi! I'm Wendy Gerdes. My husband John and I live in Omaha, NE. I get to be mom to three sons, one daughter and one daughter-in-law. I spent many years homeschooling our kids but have now worked myself out of that job. Now, I spend my time helping with my husband's IT business, writing, teaching about spiritual formation and being with our kids in their current season. I love the outdoors, reading and being with people. I am passionate about following Jesus in the everyday and joining Him in what He is doing.