Set Your Course by First Looking to Him

A picture came to me recently. One of those moments where something drops into your spirit and you know it's not just your imagination.

I saw an old sailing ship. The kind with tall masts and a crew of men attending to rigging and sails. As I watched, night began to fall. All around, nothing but ocean. No land in sight. No landmarks. Just endless water meeting an endless sky.

The captain called out to set course. But how? No GPS. No satellite navigation. No flashing screens telling him where to go. Instead, he looked up. The moon had risen. Stars were appearing one by one across the darkening sky. And using these heavenly markers - the very lights God placed in the sky at creation - he found his direction.

Come morning, he would adjust again. The sun would rise due east, just as it always has, and he could correct his path.

There's something in this image for us. Especially now, at the start of a new year.

The Old Way of Finding Direction

Those sailors of centuries past had no choice but to depend on the sky to navigate. The sun, moon, and stars were their only reliable guides across vast oceans. They had to look up before they could move forward.

David wrote about this in Psalm 19:1…

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

The same sky that guided ancient mariners still speaks today. Not just about where to sail, but about who made it all. The heavens point us to the Creator. They always have.

But somewhere along the way, we stopped looking up.

The Modern Way of Getting Lost

Today we have gadgets and technology for everything. Our cars have built-in GPS systems that tell us exactly where to turn. Our phones connect to satellites and give us step-by-step directions. Our smart watches buzz when we need to make a move. We've never had more tools to help us navigate our path.

And yet. How many of us feel more lost than ever? Not lost on the roads. Lost in life. Lost in purpose. Lost in the big questions about where we're heading and why.

We set our destinations based on goals we've created for ourselves. Ambitions the world tells us to pursue. Career targets. Financial milestones. Social achievements. We punch in coordinates based on what we want, what culture says we should want, or what everyone else seems to be chasing.

Then we wonder why we arrive at these destinations feeling empty. Wondering if there's more. Questioning whether we took a wrong turn somewhere.

The problem isn't a lack of direction. The problem is who we're asking for directions.

Looking to the Creator Before Setting Sail

Here's what struck me about that ship. Before the captain could chart his course, he had to look to something outside himself. Something fixed. Something reliable. Something that wasn't going to change based on his mood or his ambitions or the latest trends in navigation.

The sun rises in the east. The stars hold their positions. These aren't suggestions. They're constants that God put in place by the very words He spoke in Genesis 1.

And that's the invitation for us at the beginning of this year. Before we set our course - before we make our plans and set our goals and chart our path forward - we need to look to Him first.

Not as an afterthought. Not as a quick prayer before we rush off to pursue what we've already decided. But genuinely waiting on God. Seeking His face. Listening for His Spirit. Finding out where He would have us go.

Proverbs 3:5-6 puts it plainly…

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

Notice the order. Trust first. Submit in all your ways. Then - and only then - does the path become clear.

We get this backwards so often. We figure out where we want to go, make our plans, then ask God to bless them. We set our course based on our own understanding and wonder why we keep running aground.

This Isn't About Horoscopes

Let me be clear about something. When I talk about looking to the sun, moon, and stars for guidance, I'm not suggesting anything remotely like astrology or horoscopes. That's not what this is about.

Those practices try to find hidden meaning in the positions of stars. They treat creation as if it has power in itself. But creation only has one message, and it's the same message it's always had - there is a Creator, and He is glorious.

The sailors didn't worship the stars. They used what God had made to find their way. The stars themselves weren't the source of guidance - they pointed to the One who put them there.

For us, the principle is simple…

• Return to God before setting sail.
• Use what He's given - His Word, His Spirit, the wisdom of His people - to find direction.
• Don't trust in your own navigation skills.
• Don't follow the coordinates that culture or ambition set for you.
• Ask the One who made the whole map.

His Word as Our Light

The Psalmist understood this connection between God's guidance and light. In Psalm 119:105, we read…

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path."

Just as the stars gave sailors enough light to navigate at night, God's Word gives us enough light for the step in front of us. Not always a floodlight showing the whole journey. But a lamp for our feet. Enough to see where to place our next step.

This requires something of us. It requires us to actually be in His Word. To read it. To let it shape our thinking. To submit our plans to what it says rather than bending it to fit what we've already decided.

If we want God to guide our path, we need to be in the place where He speaks. His Word. Prayer. Listening for His Spirit. Community with other believers who can help us hear clearly.

The ship's captain didn't just glance at the sky once and then close his eyes. He kept looking. He adjusted throughout the night and again at sunrise. Guidance isn't a one-time event. It's an ongoing relationship with the One who knows the way.

Seeking First, Not Last

Jesus gave us the clearest instruction on all of this in Matthew 6:33…

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Seek first. Not seek eventually. Not seek when you've tried everything else. Not seek as a last resort when your plans fall apart.

First.

Before the goals. Before the resolutions. Before the vision boards and the five-year plans. Seek His kingdom. Seek His righteousness. Align yourself with what He wants before you start charting your own course.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't have dreams or make plans. God gave us minds to think and imagine and create. But our dreams and plans should flow from time in His presence, not precede it.

When we seek Him first, something shifts. Our desires start to align with His. The things that once seemed so important begin to find their proper place. We start to want what He wants - or at least want to want it.

And here's the promise “...all these things will be given to you as well.” Not because we've earned them. But because when we're aligned with His purposes, we're positioned to receive what He has for us.

His Plans, Not Ours

Jeremiah 29:11 is a verse many of us know…

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

God has plans. He has a future in mind for you. And His plans are good.

But here's what we sometimes miss. These are His plans. Not ours that He rubber-stamps. His.

The context of this verse is important. God spoke these words to people in exile. People who were exactly where they didn't want to be. People whose own plans had crumbled. And into that space, God spoke: I have plans.

Sometimes the most important thing we can do at the start of a year is let go of our plans long enough to hear His. To hold our ambitions loosely. To say, "Lord, what do You want? Where would You have me go? What course should I set?"

This requires trust. Deep, sometimes uncomfortable trust. Because His plans don't always look like ours. His routes don't always make sense to our limited perspective. But He sees what we can't see. He knows what we can't know. And He is leading us somewhere good.

Practical Steps for Setting Your Course

So what does all of this look like in practice? How do we actually look to Him before setting sail into a new year?

Start with stillness.
Before you make your goals list, spend time just being with God. Not asking for things. Not bringing your agenda. Just being present. Let Him search your heart and show you what's there.

Get into His Word.
Read the Scriptures not just for information but for direction. Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight what you need to hear. Pay attention to what stands out, especially the verses that challenge your current thinking or assumptions.

Pray with open hands.
Instead of telling God what you've decided and asking Him to bless it, come with open hands. "Here's what I think Lord, but I hold it loosely. Show me Your way."

Listen.
This is the part we often skip. We talk to God, then rush off before He can respond. Give Him space to speak. Through His Word. Through circumstances. Through other believers. Through that still, small voice of His Spirit.

Be willing to adjust course.
Even the ancient sailors didn't set their direction once and ignore the sky forever. They kept looking up. They adjusted as needed. Our walk with God is the same. Keep checking in. Stay open to correction. Let Him redirect you when necessary.

The Journey Ahead

I don't know what this year holds for you. I don't know what waters you'll be sailing or what destinations you're hoping to reach.

But I know this. If you set your course by looking to Him first, you won't regret it. The journey might look different than you expected. The route might surprise you. But you'll be heading in the right direction.

The sailors of old trusted what God put in the sky. They looked up before they moved forward. And they found their way across vast oceans without a single gadget or screen.

We have so much more. We have His living Word. We have His Holy Spirit living within us. We have access to the throne room of Jesus and the Father Creator Himself.

Let's look to Him first. Let's set our course by the One who knows the way.

As you step into this new year, my prayer for you is simple...

May you trust Him with all your heart.
May you hear His voice with clarity.
And may He make your paths straight as you follow where He leads.

Not your plans. Not the world's plans. His plans.

That's the course worth setting.