From Wrong Steps to Right Steps: Returning to God's Path

Today’s episode invites us into a deeply personal journey, one every believer understands. Sometimes our greatest struggle is not the stumble itself, but realizing we have slowly drifted from the path God intended for us. 

In this episode I explore how wrong steps often begin subtly, how spiritual drift takes root, and most importantly, how God’s grace always provides a way back. 

Through biblical truth, the story of the prodigal son, and practical encouragement, we’ll discover that no matter how far we’ve wandered, restoration begins the moment we turn back toward the Father. 

So whether your steps feel strong today or uncertain, take heart. God still straightens paths, restores hearts, and welcomes His children home. Stay with us as we explore From Wrong Steps to Right Steps: Returning to God’s Path.

I invite you to follow our podcast and share it with others as together we walk with our Master.

The Prattville family meets at 344 East Main Street, Prattville, AL.  Our web site is: https://prattvillechurch.org.  

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello friends. Welcome to Walking with Our Master. I'm your host, Dave Leighton. Whether you're starting your morning or winding down your evening, let's take a few moments to center our hearts on some thoughts about what really matters. One of the hardest moments in life is not when we stumble. It's when we finally realize we have been walking in the wrong direction. Sometimes we know exactly when it happened. Other times it's gradual. One compromise or one distraction or one painful decision and one period of spiritual neglect. And then before long we find ourselves farther from God's peace, God's purpose, and God's presence than we ever intended. Well the good news is this no matter how far we have wandered, God's path back is always open. It might not be easy, but the pathway home is there. Well, today on Walking with the Master, we're talking about recognizing wrong steps and how to fully return to the right path God has for us. Now before I get further into this, I want to remind us that in our walk with the Master, some are able to take giant leaps, and then others take small baby steps. And most of us are in the middle with moderate strides. And the important thing is that we keep walking with our master. Here's a verse to keep in mind. You probably know it. It's from Proverbs three verses five and six. It says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. And here's one of my favorites. I've said it before. It's from Psalm thirty seven, verse twenty three and twenty four. It says The steps of a man are established by the Lord. When he delights in his way, though he fall, he shall not be cast along, for the Lord upholds his hand. I draw a lot of comfort and confidence from that verse because all of us stumble at times, but God promises to pick us up, dust us off, and put us back on the trail. Well, okay, let's talk about wrong steps and right steps. Getting off the track spiritually often happens more subtly than we expect. Rarely does someone wake up and decide today I'll drift from God. That probably doesn't cross anybody's mind. Instead, we kind of aimlessly drift away. The wrong path often begins with small steps away from God before it becomes major distances from him. Isaiah fifty three verse six says All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. Wow, did you notice that phrase at the end of that? His own way? That is often the root of the problem. We substitute self direction for God's direction. And when we do, we find ourselves in trouble, just like that prodigal son Jesus told us about in Luke 15. We look around and see we're stuck in a pig pen, we're spiritually starving, and wonder how we can get back on track. Well, how do we get back? First thing is to return to God's path by acknowledging where we are. We cannot change direction until we admit the current direction is wrong. I love it in that parable of the prodigal son. His journey home began with clarity. In the parable it says, but when he came to himself, that is a powerful phrase. He came to himself. He recognized where rebellion had taken him. Well many of us stay stuck because pride keeps us pretending that everything is fine. But healing begins when we honestly replace denial. God's grace meets us when we stop hiding. Well next we need to repent, and I know that's a churchy word, but that's what needs to happen. We need to repent. And that doesn't mean we simply regret something. Regret means to feel bad about consequences. Now that is important, but it is not repentance. Repentance changes direction, and you know the difference. Judas regretted that he had betrayed Christ. Peter regretted it, but he also repented. One was consumed with despair, and the other out of that despair turned back to Jesus and was restored by grace. Repentance is saying, Lord, I surrender my way for yours. Acts three nineteen says, Repent therefore and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. Turn back. That's directional language. Repentance is a spiritual U-turn. Third thing we need to do is to follow through with that repentance and turn to the Father. That's what the prodigal son did. He began his path home. Many people try to fix their lives without fully returning their hearts. They focus on behavior modification without relational restoration. But walking with our master is all about restored fellowship. God calls us away from sin, and in doing so, He is calling us back to Himself. Here's another verse of Scripture, James chapter four, verse eight. Again, you probably know it. It says, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. As Jesus continued with that parable of the prodigal son, the Father saw the Son returning home and he ran to meet him. That's the image of our God. When we turn, and in fact, when we even begin to turn back to him, he's there to bring us the rest of the way home. Okay, the next step we should take is since we've repented and turned to God, let's replace wrong thinking and wrong behavior with right thinking and right behavior. It's not enough to simply stop doing something or stop thinking something. We have to start doing what God wills for us. If we return to old environments or old temptations or old thought patterns without change, we're going to repeat old mistakes. You know there's a legal term for this? It's called recidivism. It means to return to what we were doing wrong. If we don't replace our wrong attitudes and behavior with what God wills, then we're subject to spiritual recidivism. Well, okay. I didn't mean to get preaching there. I simply want us to know that we all stray from God's pathway at times, and we probably don't mean too intentionally, but it happens. And the great news, and I've said it so many times, and I'm going to continue saying it as long as I have breath, there's great news found in 1 John chapter 1, verses 7 through 9. I encourage you to memorize this, and even if you can't memorize it, get it in your mind so you can summarize it. Keep it in your mind. John says, But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What a great promise. Well friends, if you're off course today, you are not beyond restoration. God still restores wanderers, God still straightens crooked paths, and God still welcomes prodigals home. The road back requires humility, repentance, discipline, and trust. But every right path begins with one decision, and that is I will stop following my way and start following his. Well thank you for listening today as together we walk with our master. Please join us again next week as we continue seeking truth, growing in faith, and getting back to what really matters.