By Jessica Brodie
Have you ever gotten lost in the woods? I’m not talking Hansel and Gretel kind of lost, where you’re out wandering for days and stumble upon an evil cottage. I mean taken a wrong turn while hiking or wandering, then immediately realized you were in trouble.
That happened to my family recently when we were in the mountains for a few days celebrating my stepdaughter’s graduation. We’re hiking near a beautiful waterfall and had already seen the big picture view, and now we were making our way toward the base. The written guide warned us the trail would be uneven and steep in some areas, but we weren’t too worried—we’d hiked those kinds of trails before.
We turned where they instructed and picked our way down the jagged rocks. It went on and on for what felt like an hour, and finally, we got to this odd-looking rocky section. The trail seemed to go right through the rocks, but it was a little awkward to do this—especially with our German Shepherd. We had to climb onto a boulder, then sort of wiggle our way through this narrow section of rock and jump at the end, and it wasn’t easy. I was a bit shocked it hadn’t been mentioned in the written guide, but we continued on, painstakingly making our way through the rocks and out the other side.
“This had better be an amazing waterfall,” my son joked.
Then suddenly we came to a dead end. To our left, through the trees, we could glimpse the base of the waterfall, hear children laughing and grownups talking. But ahead of us was just brush and bramble, a thorny mess we certainly weren’t intended to traverse.
“Somehow we’ve gotten off the trail,” I told my family.
What else could we do but turn around and try to make our way back up? But when we got to the rocky section where we’d had to jump, I was stuck—I couldn’t make it up on my own, not without a hand to pull me up or a hefty push from behind. I decided to go around, keeping my eyes on the rocks to make sure I didn’t go too far astray; it was much easier that way. Finally I got to the top again.
That’s when my stepdaughter pointed. “Look—see that green diamond? That’s the trail we’re supposed to be on.”
She was right. Having found the right path, we made it the rest of the way to the base of the waterfall, hot and sweaty but exhilarated.
Consider all of this from a spiritual perspective. What do we do when we’re walking what we think is the right path, only gets harder and harder, and finally it gets insanely hard, and we realize we’ve hit a dead end?
Maybe we push ahead stubbornly, muscling our way through that wrong path, determined to make it the right one.
Or maybe we turn back around and look for the way back, the right path, the true trail.
Our loving God has a path for each of us, only the directions are not always so clear. We walk on that path, trying our best to live right by him. Sometimes we get off the path and encounter obstacles—and sometimes stray so far off the path we wind up in a big mess. All those obstacles we encounter are designed to get us back on his path for us.
We can muscle our way through the brambles all we want, but if we’re not on the right path—God’s righteous plan for our lives—it’s not going to lead to the waterfall at the end.
What’s necessary is making our way back to the path, learning how to recognize it, looking for those signs.
None of us can ever live in full righteousness this side of heaven. But we can do our best to walk in alignment with the Lord, to allow the Holy Spirit to operate fully within us. Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit enables us to live a life that reflects the character of the Lord, and we can see this through evidence—fruit—that the Spirit is alive and working in our hearts. Galatians 5:22-23 tells us “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (NIV). And Jesus, in Matthew 7:16-20, shares how just as every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit, we can recognize those who are living in alignment with the Lord. As he instructs, “By their fruit you will recognize them” (v. 20).
So look around you. Do you see trail signs letting you know you’re on the right path, or brambles and thorns blocking your way, letting you know it’s time to turn around? Pray on this, then realign your steps.
And bask in God’s beautiful waterfall.
Scripture to ponder: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”— Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
A prayer: Lord, thank you for loving me enough to provide the true path of righteousness. Help my heart and my feet stay fully aligned to your will and your way, now and always, and if I get off-track, please steer me back to you. Amen.
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