On one of the many forums I belong to, a lady shared with us a challenge she was experiencing. There were two things she wanted to participate in, but there was a clash of dates. One was a fantastic opportunity and the other a desire to meet with a group of women at an event that doesn’t take place very often.
So, while she was praising God for the fantastic opportunity she was equally disappointed that the timing clashed with something else she had so been looking forward to. She asked the group to pray for her and she was hoping for a date change.
Another came forward and shared on a book she was reading that had a character having to make a decision and feeling that God was in both – she just didn’t know how to choose.
Reading this reminded me of a magnet I had on my filing cabinet for many years, sent to me by the very first VA I connected with online in 1996.
It said something like “You choose the direction and God will direct your path”. I’ve read that magnet many, many times over the years.
I believe this to mean we could have many paths or directions to choose from in our lives – one is not necessarily the ‘right’ one, both could be.
I also strongly believe that if you do choose the wrong path God will steer you off it by putting up some kind of brick wall – providing you are constantly seeking Him for guidance. However high jumps (meant for stretching and growth) should not be mistaken as brick walls. Think it’s important to mention that because sometimes it’s easy to think an immediate challenge is God saying you can’t do this when in actual fact He’s just giving you some character building exercises along the way.
Our Pastor at church has sometimes spoken of ‘choices’ and that we don’t live within the confines of a small spot to stand on. That we have a big space to move around in where God gives us choices and He will bless any one of those choices we make inside the boundaries He sets us.
Pastor Rob has also mentioned this also relates to finding the ‘one’ to spend the rest of our lives with. With the number of people on this earth why would there only be one person who is the right one for us? But I digress…
Don’t mistake not knowing which path to choose as not knowing where you are going. That’s a different thing altogether. I believe that if you’re focussed on a goal or a dream that is God-given either path can get you there but provide a different set of experiences that you will be able to use for His Glory.
If you find yourself faced with a decision as to which path to choose, then make sure you seek God in that choice. You may not find you get any clear direction as to which one simply because both are right but if you decide to step forward on to either one, you’ll find Him there waiting to walk with you.
His message inspired me and then I remembered what I’d seen when out in the garden earlier today. A tree that was barren only a week ago and looking dead, now has pink blooms growing on it and small green buds forming. I remembered thinking ‘it’s not spring yet’.
Many of you know the turmoil our family have been through in the past 10 months. Life for us has seemed bleak and wintery, and we have wondered if we would ever smile and enjoy life again. But God has been good and brought many wonderful and new things into our lives. And friends have become more dear and much closer to us. Nothing or no-one will ever replace our beloved Miriam but life does continue even if we haven’t wanted it to. We’ve been in a winter but now there’s the promise of spring around the corner.
