Finding the Right Path
Finding the Right Path
You come to an age in life when you don’t want to waste time going down the wrong path. You don’t want to get a few years down the road and realize that this wasn’t what you expected or that you are in a place, you don’t feel cut out for. You come to a certain age and you don’t feel like you have the years to spare in guesswork. When you come to the fork in the road, you don’t want to have to try out all the options for a few miles to see which path is the most pleasant and rewarding. You want to make the right choice, the first time. You want wisdom, discernment, and divine guidance to illuminate the right path for your life. You don’t want to take the wrong path and have to waste time dealing with the consequences and the disappointments. You want to find that thing that most capitalizes on your gifts, talents, and strengths. You want to hit your stride. You get tired of trying to be something you are not. You get tired of trying things that seem appealing, easy, or available only to realize they aren’t satisfying and that you are constantly working out of your deficiencies and who you are not instead of, out of who you are. You want the rush and the joy that comes from doing something you feel made to do.
This week I encountered two different women who gushed about how much they loved their jobs. As they described what they did, it didn’t sound like anything I would find excitement, fulfillment, or joy in, but they they had found that place that appealed to their strengths, interests, temperaments, and passions. There was something so rewarding in just hearing them talk about the enjoyment they found in their work. The Bible speaks to this blessing, “There is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work.” Eccl 3:22, “there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work... these pleasures are from the hand of God” Eccl 2:24, and “To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life-this is indeed a gift from God.” Eccl 5:19. That’s what I saw this week, two women enjoying their work and seeing it as a gift from God.
I have been finding great comfort in the promise of Psalms 32:8, “The Lord says, I will guide you along the BEST pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” This is one of my deepest desires to be led to the BEST pathway for my life, not the tolerable, or the mediocre, but the BEST possible path my life could take. My mom’s early death at 41 and my year long battle with stage 3b cancer at 31 has shown me, life is short and I don’t want to waste my time in guesswork and trial and error. I want to experience the joy and satisfaction that comes from walking God’s BEST pathway for my life. I often wish I could have a few hours or a few days to sit across the table from a wise sage and hear their guidance, counsel, perspective and advice on all the areas of my life. I don’t like choices and decisions because I fear making the wrong one. I just want someone to tell me what to do. God desires to be that advisor, who says, “This is the way walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21) There couldn’t be a better advisor for watching over our lives because no one has the advantage of His vantage point. He sees our end and our beginning, He knows who our lives will interact with, He knows the deepest desires of our hearts better than we do ourselves, and as our designer, He knows more fully what He’s created us to do.
2018/09/27 at 4:46 pm