Last summer, my friends and I took a trip to the Lost River in Kentucky. On the way home we discovered we had a few more hours to kill before we were expected to be back. Someone suggested we take a side trip to Brown County State Park in Nashville, Indiana since it was on the way home.
During our time there, we decided to go for a hike down one of the trails. According to the map there was supposed to be a trail not a hundred feet from where we were standing. We looked around and found a small clearing with what appeared to be a trail. When the trail teetered off into nothing, we assumed it was just a little bit more rustic and kept walking, finding remnants of it a little further on. After following this trail, we started to see people’s houses and backyards and eventually a road. That is when we knew something was wrong. Some strangers who were walking along the road told us that we had just walked out of the park.
We then turned around and retraced out steps back into the park and the clearing where we had started. We were running out of daylight and would have to leave soon. The location we wanted to get to was still on a trail. After a little more searching we found the marked trail a little beyond the clearing we had just went down. Most of our group quickly went on the hike. I tried to take my time, or at least going at a slower rate than anyone else, trying to enjoy what I could of this awesome park. By the time we reached our location, the sun was setting. We all jumped in the back of one of our friend’s truck who had driven out to the location and rode back to our cars.
We do not like to admit it, but our lives can be the same way. How easy it is for us to start on what we think is a trail, only for the path to suddenly vanish. Thus, forcing us to find another path that could vanish just as easily as the first.
Then there are times when the path is blatantly clear and marked out. The destination is in sight and the steps we are to take seem easy.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14
In Matthew, Jesus tells that the road to hell is wide and seems easy, while the road to heaven is rugged and narrow and few ever find it. Without God’s guidance, we stumble on the deer paths of life. The ones that go nowhere and end abruptly. Like trying to chase a feather in the wind or a carrot on a stick just out of reach. The path will eventually lead to hell.
Meanwhile, the path that follows God’s direction is like the clear path. There may still be times when feels like we are following deer paths, but with God’s guidance the next path marker is just in sight.
There are times when God will call us to something bigger than ourselves. If you are like me, I like to be told the details in advance. That way I know the steps I must take to get to that point. God does not always work that way and that can sometimes be frustrating. This can cause us to stumble and take deer paths that lead nowhere, instead of the true path just a little further beyond that point.
My hope for you today is that you take some time out of your day to seek out God and that trail marker that He has for you. For some of you that marker is clearly visible just ahead on the same trail you are on. For others that marker may be leading in a new direction. Yet there will be those who won’t be able to see a mark at all. They have been going so far down the deer trail that the mark is actually behind them where they need to turn around. The last group is not on a trail at all, for they have never considered God, or given their lives to Him.
Many of us find ourselves in positions in life where we suddenly have lots of free time. Would you consider taking ten minutes to consider where you are spiritually today? It may just be time for you to realize what kind of path you are on.
A Path of Living Stones 