Proverbs 4:25-26 “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.”

Ruts aren’t hard to miss. In fact, in most cases, you know exactly where they are. The ruts you often find yourself in have an eerie resemblance to the last set of ruts you found yourself in. We are creatures of habit and will often travel familiar roads, even when we know that in the past they have at times been ‘sticking points’ on our journey. But ruts, like most things in life, do not have to be challenged head on. They can be circumnavigated. They can be gotten around. For that reason King David wrote that you must keep your eyes directly forward (on the road) and keep them straight. This way, you will see the ruts before you find yourself suddenly in them.  Interestingly, he also tells us to ‘ponder the path’ that we travel. If you know that in the past a certain path has led you into a ‘stuck’ situation, why would you willingly choose to travel that route again? If you consider how best to avoid the potential ruts of life, you will find that a little forethought can prevent days, months, or even years of tire-spinning, high-centered, going-nowhere-fast delays because you just ‘knew’ this time would be different! Plan your route carefully!

Pray: “Father God, today I will choose to consider my chosen path before setting out. I will keep my eyes firmly ahead because I know that there are places on every path that can cause me to lose traction and delay me. Keep my eyes sharp, I pray, so that I can be quick about reaching the place you have prepared for me so that I can do all that you have called me to do without needless delay. In Jesus’ matchless name I ask – Amen.