READ: MATTHEW 22:34-40; ACTS 9:1-20

When I worked in Japan as a young international schoolteacher, I often spent weekends exploring Tokyo’s neighborhoods or other parts of Japan. Sometimes, I’d get lost and have to ask strangers the way in my simple Japanese: “Migi? Hidari? Massugu?” (Right? Left? Straight?) Their rapid, fluent answers often left me confused.

Do you ever get lost or confused when trying to follow Jesus? He called Himself “the way” (John 14:6), and early Christians were called people “who belonged to the Way” (Acts 9:2). Yet, for thousands of years, people have wondered: How can I discover God’s will for my life?

After three years of teaching in Japan, I prayerfully tried to discern if I should move back to the United States. I was feeling confused and unsure, but this verse comforted me: in Acts 9:11, the risen Jesus literally gives Ananias a street address: “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street”! Then the Lord continued, “and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.” Ananias had plenty of reasons to be scared of going there to meet Saul, a man who had been persecuting and imprisoning followers of Jesus, but at least he had clear directions!

I didn’t expect Jesus to be that specific for me, but as I read this verse I asked God to help me trust Him with my future. I had already learned that Jesus loved me and was with me. Now I learned to trust that He could lead me. And if I didn’t hear clear directions like Ananias? No matter where I chose to live, I could continue to follow His directions from Matthew 22:37-39: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…[and] love your neighbor as yourself.” • Sonja Anderson

• Have you ever asked God for guidance? What happened?

• What does it mean when it seems like God is silent? Sometimes, we start to worry that He can’t hear us or doesn’t care, but that’s not true. God guides us in all sorts of ways, not only through visions and dreams but also through circumstances and advice from mature Christians. And God’s guidance always: agrees with His Word (the Bible), glorifies God the Father and God the Son (John 16:12-15), brings the fruit of the Spirit and hope (Galatians 5:22-23; John 10:10), and does not come with condemnation or fear (John 3:17; Romans 8:1; 1 John 4:18). Who are trusted Christian mentors in your life you could talk to about these things?

The Lord told him [Ananias], “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.” Acts 9:11 (NIV)