The Path is God

UPDATE: 5:00 - Here is the reason for the I-20 closing yesterday. Please continue to pray for the driver of the truck. Still in critical condition.

Jimbo and I spent the weekend in Shreveport at my mom’s house. We headed home last night and we had traveled about 25 miles when all of the sudden, traffic came to a stand still. The state police was there merging us all into one lane and for miles ahead we could see cars slowly creeping along. We were detoured off of the interstate and onto a back highway. We went about 5 miles and then were allowed back on the interstate. It took us 2 hours to go 10 miles. I am not kidding you.

We had no idea why we were getting routed off into another direction. We could see nothing ahead that would indicate anything dangerous lurking ahead. There was no sign of an accident - no flashing lights. There was no apparent reason that we wouldn’t be allowed on that stretch of interstate. It didn’t seem unsafe.

But we couldn’t see the actual danger that was there. We could only see what was right there in front of us. We had no way of knowing what was taking place several miles down that highway. WE couldn’t see the danger, but the police could. They knew what lay ahead and they were there to protect us. There had been an accident earlier involving a tanker truck carrying sulfuric acid and they were trying to get the dangerous substance cleaned up. So even though we were unable to detect the danger on our own, there was someone else there that had the knowledge and authority to give us the protection that we needed.

GOd is that knowledge. God is that authority. God is our protection. He sees the danger lurking ahead and He is the one who initiates those detours in our life. We don’t always understand why He is leading us down a different path. There are times when we are sure He is doing it to punish us. There may be times when we resist the detour because we don’t want to go the other way!

Sometimes we find out the reason for the detour while we are still on it. We may find out the reason long after it has taken place. We may never know the reason for the detour.

We just have to know that when God veers us off of one path onto another, it is because He knows what is best for us. We can’t always see what He is steering us away from, but we can rest assured that He has something better for us down the other trail.

“You will show me the path of life.“ (Psalm 16:11)

“Show me your ways O Lord, Teach me your paths.” (Psalm 25:4)

There is a story told by E. Stanley Jones of a missionary in a jungle. He got lost with nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. He finally found a small village and asked one of the natives if he could lead him out of the jungle. The native said he could. “All right,” the missionary said, “Show me the way.” They walked for hours through the dense brush hacking their way through unmarked jungle. The missionary began to worry and said, “Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?” The native said, “In this place, there is no path. I am the path.”

Our path out of the jungle of this world, is God. Let’s keep our eyes on Him. He will show us the way. He will lead us.

In Him,
Beth