STUMBLING

STUMBLING
John 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
John 11:10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
This is the answer Jesus gave to His disciples when they said He should probably not go to the house of Martha and Mary after the death of Lazarus, because the Jews had tried to kill him there a short time before.
In short, He was telling them that if a person moves in the timing of God they would be safe from calamity. This is true, for when we move at the stirring of the Holy Ghost we are moving in the "twelve hours" of the day, and it will be hard for an accident to overtake us. The difference is in having the prompting of the Holy Ghost.
Jesus, who said He only did what He saw the Father do, would be safe going into enemy territory, because He knew that Lazarus was to be raised from the dead by Him. Jesus had constant access to the Will of God, for He had the Spirit without measure. He could "see" the "unseeable" things.
I am sure that we all have had experiences where we knew we had been directed by the Lord to do a thing, and it worked out to the glory of God. It made us feel very happy to know we had been used of God in that way. This is what Jesus meant when He spoke of the "twelve hours of the day".
On the contrary, most of us have also known the results of having moved out without the leading of the Spirit. Usually, we tell ourselves that we won't do that again. But we do. This what Jesus meant by walking in the night, and stumbling. Many of us go from blunder to blunder.
There may be many causes for this condition.
I Peter 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, [even to them] which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
But there are also some remedies for it.
I John 2:10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
Psalms 37:23 The steps of a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Is it possible that we can be more sure of His direction in our lives if we are obedient to what we already know to do?
I believe so. There are many other scriptures which seem to bear this out.