Curious FaithSample

Zig Zag or Rat Race?

Do you always take the same route home? Or do you switch it up? Are you so afraid of getting lost, or taking longer to get where you’re going, that you’re unwilling to see what could be in store for you along the way? I wonder how often we get stuck in the same ruts because of our unwillingness to trust God enough to walk into the unknown. How often does our need to control rob us of delights that God desires us to experience? I bet a whole lot of the time, we miss out on seeing ways He longs to shepherd us in as we explore life.

Why don’t we trust Him when he says, You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16:11).

When He says, that He leads the humble in what is right, and reaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies (Ps. 25:9-10).

On the other hand, a whole lot of the time, instead of zigging and zagging to explore new pathways, we get caught up in what feels like a rat race. One minute we may be fine meandering this way and that in life, trusting God at each turn, but then maybe we catch a glimpse of where we think He might be taking us. Suddenly, we are hardly following God anymore as we are focused on what lies at the end of the journey. We become practically obsessed with obtaining what appears to lie within our reach that we veer off of the lovely backroads of life where God wants to reveal the peaceful landscape to us. Before we even know what’s happening, we are speeding up an on-ramp to a busy interstate and find ourselves stuck in endless traffic jamming up our purpose and plan. The goal appears to lie ahead, but the journey to get there becomes more about safely navigating the insanity around us than it does enjoying the route. We try to control the journey to get where we are going the most direct and expedient way, and so often miss out on the gifts that God wants to reveal to us when we zig and zag and follow Him.

How often do we turn our eyes from following God, and instead follow other people? Instead of journeying the road that God has for us, we focus on someone else’s destination and find ourselves on a pathway we were never meant to travel?

What if the greatest story of your life is waiting to happen on a zig zag outside of your control? Are you curious enough? Do you trust Him enough to believe that the road He leads you on doesn’t end where sand meets water, but instead makes a way where there wouldn’t have been one without Him?