Is God Walking With You or Are You Walking With God?

Imagine going to heaven and standing by God as He lovingly shows you the calendar of His plan for your earthly life. It begins with the day you are born. Once you received Christ as Savior, every day that follows is outlined in red. You see footprints walking through each day of each week of your life. On many of the days, two sets of footprints appear. You inquire: "Father, are those my footprints on the calendar every day and is the second set of prints when you joined me?"
He answers, "No, My precious Child. The consistent footprints on your calendar are Mine. The second set of footprints are when you joined Me."
"Where were You going, Father?"
"To the destiny I planned for you, hoping you'd follow."
"But, Father, where are my footprints all those times?"
He answers, "Sometimes you went back to look at old resentments and habits while I was still going forward, hoping you'd join Me. Sometimes, you departed from My path and chose your own calendar instead. Other times, your footprints can even be seen on another person's calendar because you thought you liked their plan better. At other times, you simply stopped because you would not let go of something you could not take to the next day."
"But, Father, we ended up OK even if I didn't walk with You every day, didn't we?"
He holds you close and smiles, "Yes, Child, we ended up OK. But, you see, OK was never what I had in mind for you."
"Father, what are those golden treasure boxes on certain days?"
"Blessings, My child, I had for you along the way. Those that are open are those you received. Those still closed were days you did not walk with Me."

I got this out of a Beth Moore Bible study I have been doing and I have not been able to stop re-reading it. When I first read it I immediately thought of how I am always telling my children to hold my hand. When they do hold my hand, they are usually pulling on me to go their own way, but I force them to go MY way.

I am that child pulling on God's hand. I want God and I to walk together, but too often I want God to go my way. What is the difference whose way we go, we are both walking together. That is what counts, right?

I am learning that it DOES make a difference! God wants us to walk with Him, because He knows the plans He has for our lives. But, unlike when I am holding my children's hands, God is not going to "force" me to go the path He had planned. What blessings are we missing because we want to do things OUR way and walk OUR path?

Isaiah 30:21 and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: "This is the way. Walk in it." (HSBC)