Paved with Goodness

"Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long."—Psalm 25:4-5, NIV

A few weeks ago, I was hiking an unfamiliar trail that had very few markers and quickly became difficult to follow in the snow. Lots of meandering and needless circles. I wound up following the sun to get back to my car. I wished it had one of these signs like in the photo, taken along a more familiar trail. Maybe not coincidentally, this morning while standing in the shower and thinking of the day ahead, I sensed something really strong like: "Just stay steadfast." And I thought of this post from long ago. And I guess I am not surprised to learn that it has been one of the most-read over the years, because we all can't be reminded enough that Someone is always cheering us on even when the path of life gets confusing and difficult...

There will be times of level, wide-open spaces with long strides, and times of steep hills shrouded in fog. There will be refreshing forest jogs with the wind at your back, and there will be times when the next step is fraught with sweat, deep breaths, and rocks and roots that trip up. On many days, the view ahead on the horizon is straight and inspiring, but on just as many days, the route ahead twists, turns, and seems to disappear into the landscape known as the Kingdom of Trust. There will be smooth sailing, and there will be detours. There will be incredible vistas and mountaintop experiences, and there will be murky valleys filled with mud.

But the same God who lifts us up out of the muck and mire and sets our feet on solid ground at just the right time, and over and over again, is the same God whose paths are paved with nothing but a gazillion ancient promises fulfilled (or still on their way) even thousands of years later. All built on a bedrock of nothing but faithfulness. They are pathways of pure goodness, even when they are not easy. Stay on them, no matter what, and you cannot get lost.

There are no dead-ends in God's ways either, because even if you wander off-course (it will happen), there will always be signs, and scriptures, and prayers of friends that say...

"C'mon! This way!"

Every day this week on planet Earth, truth and faithfulness will be found lacking in our broken world. Sometimes, in a big way. And if our eyes and ears and heart get stuck gazing here, there will be good reason to think, "I don't know what or who to believe anymore." A better course of action, one that is more easily achieved in the heat of the moment when one or more are in agreement in prayer with you (and you with them), is to take a deep breath, look Up once more, remember God's impeccable resume and track record, and fix our eyes instead on the Author and Finisher of our faith, and the Faithful Guide for every single step we take along the path of this Great Adventure:

Lord, so here's a one-word prayer request: Focus. Help us keep it in the right and only place, because Your paths alone are the plumb line that guide and build our lives perfectly. Your unchanging Words bring order to the chaos that can bubble up, both without and within. You are the peace and safest of harbors in every afternoon squall and three-day storm. Your Word is clarity in the midst of confusion; help us to remember that, to take up our sword, and to use it as a laser beam to bust through the fog when truth and faithfulness all around seems sorely lacking. Thank You that You have "given us two unchanging things: Your promises and Your oath. These prove that it is impossible for You to lie. As a result, we who come to You for refuge might be encouraged to seize that hope that is set before us. That hope is real and true..." And thank You, too, that in every step we take on the good path this week, You won't be off somewhere else—You'll be cheering us on....

"C'mon! This way!"

"If you can trust Him to save you for eternity, you can trust Him to lead you for a lifetime." — David Platt

(Originally published September 2016)