The Narrow Road
Seeking God for Our Instructions
I recently had a wake-up call. It is one of those unexpected things that happens when you are going along in your life, and you think you are fine, and then, BAM! The unexpected happens. You thought everything was okay, and it turned out not to be okay. As a result, I am making changes. I am seeking the Lord for His instruction and direction.
As I seek instruction, I keep hearing, “narrow road.”
Matthew 7:13-14, Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it (NASB).
Narrow is the way to life, spiritual health, emotional health, and physical health. What does this mean? We have to be willing to be led down a very narrow path that will look opposite to the world. We will have to be willing to go against the grain, do things differently, and make different decisions. This is easy to say but not easy to walk out.
In Psalm 23:5, David writes, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows (NASB). If we were to break down all of these words into their Hebrew definitions and letters, this verse can be written as:
You set before me a narrow place through which I must walk to be put back in order so I can be sent out. As I lay on the altar, you burn up all the impurities. Holy Spirit breathes His medicinal ointment on my mind, transforming my character. You cover all my unknowns.*
We must walk the narrow road for our souls to be put back in order. The broad road only leads to more disorder and chaos in our lives. Only the Lord God has the specific instructions we need for our souls to be rearranged and re-aligned with His truths and plans for our lives. In the Word, these specific instructions are called statutes. The Psalmist writes, Your statutes are the theme of my song during my earthly life (Psalm 119:54, CSB). A statute (H2706) is a prescription from God. God knows everything about you, and He alone has the specific instructions you need for you to live an abundant life—spiritually, emotionally, and physically. He knows what truths you need from the Bible to guide your life. He knows every subconscious memory that is driving your behavior and emotions. He knows what you need to eat and the lifestyle you need to be in your best health. But we must be willing to sit with Him and get the instructions.
Habakkuk 2:1-2 says,
I will stand at my guard post
And station myself on the watchtower;
And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me,
And how I may reply when I am reprimanded.
Then the Lord answered me and said,
“Write down the vision
And inscribe it clearly on tablets,
So that one who reads it may run.
When we break these verses down, we see a picture of positioning ourselves before God to get the instructions needed to walk along the narrow road.
To stand (H5975) and to station (H3320) ourselves both mean to present ourselves before God. We intentionally put ourselves in a position to hear what He has to say. To station ourselves on the watchtower is a picture of submitting to the cleansing of our souls to the Word of God and the Blood of Jesus. The Word exposes our ungodly ways of thinking, and the Blood of Jesus washes us clean as we repent and are willing to change our minds from our way of thinking to God’s. Watchtower (H4931) in Hebrew means to guard and watch over. The root word is shâmar (H8104), which means to have charge of and to protect. The Hebrew letters that form this word are the shin (300), mem (40), and the resh (200). These letters give us the hidden picture of submitting ourselves (resh) to the Word and the Blood (mem) so that everything that is in us that is not operating in truth can be consumed and destroyed (shin).
When we go before God and station ourselves on the rampart (H4692), we present ourselves to God for Him to bandage our wounds and are willing to walk the narrow road to healing and wholeness. A rampart is an enclosure, entrenchment, or seige, but it can also mean a wound bound up with a dressing (B1411-J-a).**
In Hebrew, words form families. Every word has other words that are related to them. Other words that are related to the word rampart mean:
A narrow, tight place or situation.
A salve rubbed and pressed into the skin.
Olives that are pressed to extract glimmering oil.
Being pressed into a narrow, tight place. The pressing of clay to form something.
The forming of a thought in the mind.
Choosing God’s narrow road means we will be healed, but it will require us to be willing to be pressed like oil and molded as a potter molds clay. This is why narrow is the road that leads to life and broad is the road that leads to destruction. Most people are unwilling to walk the narrow road because of the cost. It will require all of us. It will require surrender. It will require doing many things we naturally do not want to do. But this is where we are, Body of Christ. We have to choose. It is those on the narrow road that will be carriers of the coming glory.
I encourage you to get before the Lord and ask Him for instructions to walk your narrow road. What do you need to do in your life to be rearranged into the right order? Habakkuk goes on to tell us to make sure and write down what we hear. Writing it down helps us inscribe God’s instructions on the tablet for our hearts. When we write it down, it helps us to run, which I will share more about on another day with an exciting announcement!
May the Lord give you the desire, discipline, courage, and humility to walk the narrow road.
Walking beside you as a fellow traveler,
Brandee
*From Branded: Awakening the Firebrands of God by Dr. Brandee Loftis ©2024
**From The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible by Jeff A. Benner