The anxiousness was rising in my soul…
As I sat at my piano and played I tried to quiet it with music but it just wouldn’t quit. “What is my life coming to?” a haunting thought echoing through the chambers of my innermost being. “Maybe I’ve been forgotten about…maybe it’s too late!” and the spiral went on and on.
Then I remembered something I had encountered on a recent walk. While trying to find a certain part of the forest to walk in I was stuck walking a long a busy highway. It was loud, a bit unnerving and I wished I could get off of it. I couldn’t see any other paths so I resigned myself to the less than desirable route.
All of a sudden I felt an impression inside to cross the highway at a break in traffic. So I did. I crossed over onto what looked like an even worse predicament because now instead of pavement I was walking on tall, unkept grass.
Then, I saw it.
A beaten path appeared which led to a staircase and beautiful wooded sidewalk down to my destination. I would have never known that path was there. It was perfect! Safe, secluded and beautiful.
The experience brought to memory the journey of the Israelites as they followed God out of slavery towards the promised land. The Bible tells us at one point God decided not to lead them through the “land of the Philistines” which would have been the shortest route. Instead, He took them on a much longer route because they were not ready to face war (Ex.13:17). God’s choice to lead them in a roundabout way was protective.
As humans we tend to favour “knowing” over trusting. We think if we just always know where things are going we will have a sense of security and control. However, we are severely limited in how much we can know at any given time. God is seeing everything!
In the same way He led the Israelites on a path that would grow them and give them strength to eventually face the battles they would face, He leads us on paths that will build our relationship with Him, character and trust.
“The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” (Ps.32:8 NLT)
The challenge to our anxious souls is to believe that God’s “long-way-around” is the best pathway for our lives. We have to grow to trust His heart is caring and protective. It will humble us to realize we don’t always know what the best path for us is!
This is the process of learning to “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).
When what we can see of what lies ahead of us looks disconcerting, we must turn to a different way of seeing. We need eyes of faith connected to the truth of who God is and what we mean to Him.
Out of His great love for us, God is unwilling to put us in harms way just to speed up the process. May we grow to recognize His protection, learn to become patient and yield to the process.
He knows where we’re going! Let our hearts receive comfort from that today.
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