THE PATH ONCE TRAVELED

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will advise you with My eye upon you.} (Psalm 32:8 NASB)

If you live in a large city, a mid-size city or even a small town, but increasingly growing town that was once considered a village located just outside a larger metropolitan district, the words of wisdom I will give to you today are applicable.

Let me start with a true story.. Monday morning, I took a practice drive to the new Justice Center in Indianapolis. I was pretty sure I could easily find it since years ago I used to drive to that area to visit an open shopping center or to go to the drive-in theater with two screens. For those of you who are too young to know what I am referring to by a “drive-in theater,” use the search engine on your phone or personal computer to look it up. Smile! Back to the story.

I take off from my house, very sure, confident that I did not need to look up any directions and I didn’t resort to using GPS. I took off like I knew the roads better than any hired driving service employee or any taxi driver. You see, in my mind, it was just a path once traveled. I soon found out that the path was changed. Regular one-way streets had been turned into two-way streets. Roundabouts that took the place of traffic lights popped up everywhere. Road construction required depending on my sense of direction to the best of my ability. Riding lanes for bicycles made roads narrower and at times I was not sure if I was on the right road or not. Whoa! I think I need to explain why I was going to the Justice Center. My wife had jury duty scheduled this week, and she asked me to show her the way. She was in the front seat and was kind enough that she did not comment on the fact that a trip that should have taken no more than an hour was turning into a two-hour adventure. Like many men, or perhaps its only me, I never show any signs that I am lost, and I maintained a look of certainty. After all, it was a path once traveled! (Laughing loudly goes right about here!)

Finally, I get to the Justice Center. I did all I could to keep from showing any signs of panic and refrained from wiping my brow and sighing aloud. Eventually, I found it!  The return trip was better, but I learned something that serves as wisdom for you on your travels down the situational and circumstantial paths of life. Here is the wisdom: Remember the paths change down the road of life over time. You can’t navigate the path the same way. The path itself will present new challenges and let’s face it we are not the same as we once were, as time passes by. We will run into some things that will turn us around, encounter new developments that distinctly require help. The path will seem smaller, and those young drivers seem to be fast and impatient. The path once traveled becomes a path never traveled.

When driving, take advantage of your GPS. When traveling down the path of a road once traveled, don’t depend on your skills and knowledge. Look to a different GPS for the perfect way down the path. What GPS am I talking about? Well, God’s Perfect Sayings, The GPS that can be found in the B-I-B-L-E. May God be with you as you travel down the paths of life. Be blessed!

“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 NLT)

Committed to the climb,

Mark L. King