Paths That Cross On The Journey

This week I had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend I hadn’t seen for quite some time.  We are both products of leaving the organised structure of church and were catching up with what had happened over the past few months since we last met.  We have both had some difficult times and were sharing our experiences.  It is so reassuring when we talk to someone and they grasp just where we’re at on our journey and can relate to the things we are saying.  Inevitably come the questions ‘what if …?’  What if we had taken a different path?  What if we had looked for an easier option?  What if we had seen from the beginning just where the path would take us?  What if ….?  What if …? 

 

We had set out on this adventure with God along the path ahead of us and we thought we saw the goal we were aiming for.  To be honest we didn’t really know what to expect.  We only knew that it would be different.  But then the path took some twists and turns and it seemed at times that we were completely lost.  It was tough to keep going but we saw some unexpected wonders and learned so much along the way.  Our initial goal seems so far away now and out of sight but we know deep inside that we have to keep going.  Maybe what we thought we were aiming for was not the real goal after all.  This is a journey of faith and all we have to do is follow the path that is in front of us.  That’s easy to say!  

 

The challenge really, when you go a different route from the one you’re used to, is the uncertainty of it all.  You know you’re on the right path but the uncertainty comes because of the lack of familiar landmarks or checkpoints.  You can’t settle back and be comfortable, assured of ‘doing the right thing’.  There’s no-one telling you what you should or shouldn’t do, read, watch or think/believe.  There is no structured, organised time for worship or searching the Word.  It just sort of ‘happens’ as you travel.  You are no longer following the crowd without much concentration on your part.  Now you have to pick your own way around and feed yourself and think for yourself.  You have to become more aware of your surroundings, of things that might trip you up, in order to recognise new signs in unexpected places.  But in the process you learn more about listening and can gain a deeper understanding of things that until now have been hidden.  Maybe they weren’t really hidden, it’s just that they never were in the situation or context we were part of. 

 

Each of us is on our own personal journey and the paths we take are often very different.  Occasionally our paths cross and we exchange the joys and trials of our journey.  It is so good to meet up with friends who are also journeying a new path.  Such conversations result in our being more resolute to continue onwards.  We go on our way feeling animated and encouraged as we make new discoveries and different ways of travelling and working out the path God has prepared for us.  And so I continue along this different path God has shown me.  I don’t really know where it will take me.  I just know that God is with me and showing me a little bit at a time and I am happy just to follow along the part that He has shown me for now, learning and seeing what He reveals along the way.