Patsy and I really enjoyed our recent trip to Arizona to visit our son Michael and his wife Tiara. The weather was fantastic and each of the various landscapes we encountered was breathtaking.

Shortly after driving out of the Phoenix airport the speed limit on the freeway was 75 miles per hour with the traffic moving even faster. Being one who likes to make good time on the freeway I said to Patsy, “These are my people.” Two days later I was singing a different song as I found that many Arizona drivers view traffic lights as merely a suggestion and they love to lay on their horns when even a simple honk isn’t needed. Upon further evaluation, I recognized that my first impression was both ill-informed and premature, as drivers, they are not my people.

First impressions are not always bad or wrong, in fact a time or two they’ve saved my life. However, most of the time it’s better  to partner our first impressions with prayer, taking the time to seek the Lord’s will, allowing Him to clarify what we are seeing, hearing and sensing.

Proverbs 3:5 and 6 tell us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

The road of life can take us on some long and winding trips. Isn’t it good to know that as we trust in the Lord He will show us the way. He will lead and guide us as we seek Him through prayer and study. He will keep us from acting on our first impressions alone. He will keep us from making ill-informed decisions and He will lead us to the road that will take us where He has planned for us to go.

Trust in the Lord. Seek His way. Follow Him. Those steps will always protect us from making premature decisions based on first impressions alone and will take us where we are supposed to go and in the way we are supposed to get there.

                                              Thankful to Follow,

                                                     Mark