A course correction – #Lent2026

People like sheep have a tendency to wander.

Lent is a good time of reflection and to ask this question as we focus on Jesus.

Have we gone “off course” in terms of following God, or in doing what God wants us to do in our lives or doing what is pleasing to Him.

We might need a course correction to be made.

The degree of “course correction” will vary depending on how far we have wandered from the right path or direction that God wants to take us.

It could be just a small correction or adjustment to get us back on track or if we are going in the wrong direction entirely then a “U” turn is going to be needed.

In Habakkuk 2 we read “I will stand my watch and set myself on the ramparts and watch to see what He (God) will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected”.

Habakkuk actively sought correction from God – he prepared himself to listen and receive it but in my experience (this may just be me) -we usually try and avoid correction or disciplining.

I don’t think I have met anyone yet who really likes being disciplined and told they are wrong but in the end we understand it is good for us and it’s necessary.

We can so easily wander from the way of truth.

We make wrong choices, we move and act impulsively or at the wrong time.

God loves us and correcting us is a sign of His love for us – If we are children of God then it is a given that He will correct us.

As a loving Father, God wants to correct us and show us when we are “off course“.

God wants the best for us.

God showed Habakkuk plainly – God said “write the vision and make it plain i.e. clear so that he may run who reads it” – in other words God speaks clearly to us through His Word and shows us what is required for Godly living.

When I was thinking about this scripture from Habakkuk the Lord showed me a picture of a sail boat.

It was just a small simple boat with a sail and a person sitting at the helm with his hand on the tiller.

The tiller is the “course corrector” – without the tiller the boat would just go with the currents, the winds and tides which would dictate its course.

However, the sailor constantly adjusts the pressure on the tiller to keep the boat going in the right direction.

God is the tiller in our lives.

There is always going to be a “wind” or a “current” in our lives which tries to influence us and take us in a certain direction.

It’s identifying which is prevailing and influencing the direction of my life – is it culture, relationships, work, fears, lies, anxieties, my desires, my assumptions etc. there are so many things – or am I allowing the Word of God and the breath of the Holy Spirit to lead me in the right way – with my eyes fixed on Jesus.

It’s challenging but worthwhile to take time and ask God to identify what is truly influencing our decisions and the direction in life we are travelling.