God's Pathway

 We've lived at our current home for 18 years, which, in case you don't know yet, backs up to the west side of Pawnee Prairie Park in west Wichita.  The park is over a mile and a half long and a mile wide.  Kellogg is the north edge.  The south edge is well beyond Pawnee, which does NOT cut into the park.  East is Tyler Road and the airport, and to the West the park goes to just East of Maize Road.  The Cowskin creek runs through the middle of the park.  There are several walking/riding paths in the park...some of which are paved and really easy to find and enjoy.  Others are more inside the park...in the woods...sometimes in the thick of the woods.  The paths inside the woods are many and varied, with most of them connecting or crossing in some way with one or more other paths.

I've walked most all of the paths of the park.  I know where they commence and where they end or connect with another path.  I can take you on these paths to areas of the park where you think you're miles from any civilization.  No signs.  No paved paths.  No visual clues as to where you are or what direction you're facing.  No homes, vehicles, or other people are visible or heard.

I’ve taken my grand kids into the park on those inside pathways on numerous occasions.  They enjoy exploring them, and will stop at each intersection of pathways to ask me which way to go.  Sometimes, I tell them directly.  Other times, I let them choose, because I know where each path goes, and know we will eventually arrive at the place where I want to end up.

We can walk for 20, 25, or 30 minutes and will, because I know where the pathways go, eventually arrive at a place inside the park where some paths cross that are seemingly very far from any sign of civilization.  That place is a favorite of mine…one that I know well.  At that spot, you would never know, unless you could see the sun, hear an aircraft take off from the airport, or hear Kellogg traffic, which is rare, where you were or which path to take if you wanted to exit the park.  I do know.  And I also know that at that place in the park that seems so far from any sign of civilization, that we are only about three minutes from our back yard.

The path to our back yard is one that is strewn with fallen tree limbs and dead branches.  It's one of the more difficult paths in the park because of all of the debris along the way.  Yet, and this is important, the place where we're standing at that path crossing, deciding which path to take…that place is only 2 ½ minutes away from our back yard IF we take the right path.  That right path, strewn with obstacles, will get us to the house and to civilization within a very few short minutes.

So, why do I tell you this?  Well, let's look at a life lesson or two.  We may be in the middle of what we think is a no-win situation...no way out...no compass to guide us...no help to get us to a better place.  We may look around us and see nothing but darkness and obstacles.  We don’t know which direction to go when presented with several possible paths.  We can't (figuratively speaking) see the sun to get our bearings or hear the aircraft take off from the nearby airport to have some idea where we are.  We are lost.

However, in reality, we may well be only a couple of minutes away from that better place.  The path there may have downed tree trunks and branches galore, so to speak, but if we trust someone we know who knows the way and take that path they suggest, we may well break out into the sunshine very shortly.

Now, if you get the drift of my words, please don't think that I am equating myself with God here as someone who can lead you out of your predicament.  I just happen to be one in my story who knows where the paths go and where we are in the park.  I know that I myself have called on God more than once while in the park when dusk has fallen more quickly than I expected, and I wasn't sure I could see the landmarks that I needed in order to maintain my bearings.  I've never been lost, but have had some, shall we say stressful minutes as I made my way out with, I believe His guidance.

And, I certainly have called on Him in life’s trials, not knowing where to take that next step…not knowing what decision to make…not knowing how it will turn out…unable to see the landmarks that tell me where to go.  And much of the time as I look back in life, I see things didn’t turn out as I thought they would or should…we usually ended up in a better place than what I would have found had I not listened to the One who sees the beginning and the end.  God’s pathway out was sometimes a difficult one…but was the right one.

I don't know what you're going through right now.  It could be financial difficulty.  It could be medical, relational, vocational, school-related, or one of any number of difficult situations.  But often, if we will just, as the old saying goes, “Let go and let God,” we may find that obstacle-strewn path to be the one that will bring us to a better place and a better time.  It's the “letting go,” that is difficult.  It is giving up control, giving up trying to finagle, a word I like to use, things so they will turn out as we think they ought.

Our God is willing and able to give you a pathway out.  His path out may be his telling you, “My grace is sufficient for you,” and allowing the difficulty to refine and purify you for a time.  Or it may be some kind of direct intervention to relieve you of your difficult situation.  I've had both of those answers in my days on earth.

But, God is always, always faithful.  Even in the middle of great trial, God is faithful.  God is good.  Look for His path out, even if it appears to be a path to nowhere strewn with all kinds of obstacles, instead of trying to find your own, obstacle free pathway.  Because God sees it all.  He knows the best way forward.

 

Blessings,