Walking Through the Corn

I took a walk recently with my children through the countryside near our house. We were trying a new path that a friend told us about. About an hour into our walk we found ourselves on the edge of a corn field. We could see the woods on the far side of the corn so we knew we were heading in the right direction. We could also see the path leading into the corn and towards the woods. So, we set off. It wasn't long before the path intersected others and branched off in myriad directions, it even became difficult to tell the difference between the path and the spaces between the corn rows. We were in the middle of the field with the corn stalks high over our heads when my kids asked me to stop. That was the easy question, the next one was harder, "Daddy, are you sure we are heading the right direction?"

I had to admit that I really wasn't sure, but that I felt pretty confident that if we kept moving in the direction we were heading that we would come out roughly where we wanted to be, if not exactly on the edge of the woods. So, we plunged ahead, careful to stick to what we thought was the path and avoiding damage to the ripening crop. Before long we suddenly stepped out of the field and found ourselves near the wood. There was a collective sigh of relief and we continued on our walk. On the way back, we avoided the cornfield altogether.

In my life I find that the long-term objectives are clear, but in the doing of the tasks and the living of life I feel like I'm in over my head. I know where I want to get to ultimately, but the goal that seemed so within reach is now out of sight. Am I heading in the right direction? Am I lost? My general response is to plunge ahead hoping that I'm on the right track. How often do I lower my head and keep walking rather than stopping to ask my Father if I am on the right path? I love that my kids asked me. I didn't know the answer, but Our Father who art in heaven always knows the path. He is never lost. I don't have to plunge on in ignorance hoping that my foolish confidence will take me the right way. I can ask my Father for help. I can walk with Him throughout the day. So, today I choose to place my hand in His and let Him lead me in the right path for me...even through the corn field.

Choices

Everyday we make choices. When to get up? What to eat for breakfast? How many cups of coffee to drink? How to spend our time? How to spend our money? We make all kinds of choices everyday.

Today I am struck by the choices that I make and how most of life is made up of seemingly trivial choices. While it is true that many of our choices are indeed trivial, there are other choices that may be life changing. The hard part is that there is no way of knowing which choices will be life changing before you make them. I saw a report this morning that a girl was swept off a rock by an unexpectedly enormous wave and died. The news is filled with stories of people who are "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and their lives are ended or forever changed. Mundane choices sometimes lead us to unexpected places.

I can't worry about the seemingly random events like freak waves. I have to trust that if I am making reasonable decisions that God will take care of the "random" stuff. That is His purview. On the other hand, I also saw a friends facebook page today that clearly demonstrated that my friend, who once walked with Jesus is doing so no longer. We journeyed together for a time, but now the path that I walk and that of his have now widly diverted. How did that happen? I find myself reflecting on this as I consider how I spend my time, and wondering where the general trajectory of my choices is taking me. At some point my friend started to make choices that eventually led him away from the Lord. Perhaps is it was lies that he chose to believe. Perhaps it was a temptation he chose to indulge. I don't know where it started, but I can clearly see where it has led.

So, what are the choices that I am making. Am I choosing to draw near to God? I know that He will draw near to me if I draw near to Him. He is faithful to keep His promises. I know that if I hear His knock and open the door, He will come in and dine with me. I know that I often ignore the knock or the invitation to intimacy, choosing to delay or defer my response, in essence to deny his request to rest with the Redeemer. All too often this is because I am driven by my own internal drives to produce and to accomplish things for Him. I call these things good, but to the extent that they keep me from "the one needful thing" they are not at all good. I must choose each day to sit at his feet and to draw near. I must choose to quiet my self like a weaned child with his mother and not to concern myself with things that are too great for me. Then, I can live and choose from a place of peace and trust.