Pithy about paths

This spot on our local riverfront nature trail, its curve obscuring what’s ahead, reminded me of my own journey in life. Often I wished I could see beyond “right now” to my future. Could I get through college? Would I find a job? Would I marry? Would I have children? Would I get past this health crisis? God said, “Trust Me. Keep walking in faith.” Often as I prayed about these life changes and challenges, the assurance of Isaiah 30:21 came to mind: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” The verse doesn’t say “sit and think about it,” but walk in it. Or as one line in an old poem (to my knowledge, its author is anonymous) puts it: “One step thou seeth: then go forward boldly;/One step is far enough for faith to see...In all thy journeying—I [God] go before.”

That God is wise in the path He plans is reflected in this statement by Amy Carmichael, missionary to India a century ago: “Often his call is to follow in paths we would not have chosen.” As a child, she prayed for blue eyes, not brown. As an adult, she realized her brown eyes helped her fit in with the Indian culture in which she ministered.

At least two aphorisms about paths from Africa have a lot of cross-cultural truth. One goes like this: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Those with go-get-it-done personalities want to forge ahead toward their high goals. But they’re apt to arrive lonely and tired. Through friendship, we spur each other on.

The other quotation has this as its key: “My soul needs to catch up with my body.” This quote comes from a story told in Mrs. Charles Cowman’s classic devotional, Springs in the Valley. (She’s better known for another, Streams in the Desert.) A traveler hired local tribesmen to carry his loads for a long journey. The first day they hurried and went a long ways, leaving the traveler hopeful for a speedy trip. The second morning, the tribesmen refused to move. They just sat and rested. When the traveler asked why, they told him they had gone too fast the first day. Now they were waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies. How often do we rush ahead of God, only to need to stop and wait on Him?

In reading Richard Foster’s new book, Sanctuary of the Soul, I encountered yet another analogy of life and paths. To illustrate the concept of confession, Foster suggested thinking of a path littered with many rocks—some small, some large, and some partly buried so that their true size is unknown. “With compunction of heart,” Foster wrote, “we invite the Lord to remove each stone, for they do indeed represent the many sins and sorrows littering our lives” (pp. 65-66). Even rocks that represent sins against us must be pried out with the crowbar of forgiveness. Foster also reminds us that, in God’s perspective, the biggest sin-boulder weighs the same as the smallest sin-pebble. All sin is sin and offensive to Him.

One of my health goals this year is to walk very regularly. I have a favorite route in a residential area that gives me lots of “think-and-pray” time. Sometimes I pray for those who are afraid to follow God’s path. Other times, it’s for those who need patience. At times, the rocks along the way remind me of sin-rocks that need pried out of my life. And when life’s path curves, I’m reminded that as I move forward in prayer and faith, the Faithful, All-knowing One promises to “make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6).