The Shore of Promises

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

-  robert frost, the road not taken

Far too often do our lips trace words reflecting our desire for God to lead us, yet our hearts are merely conditionally on board. If we were honest with ourselves, our prayers would sound like this: “Lord lead me, and I will follow you, as long as it’s where I want to go.” Truthfully, when the Lord leads us in an uncomfortable direction, we often ignore His guidance and continue onwards towards our desired path. This often is a huge mistake because God’s plans are greater than our own, His ways and His timing are far more superior to ours and so when we take the route of disobedience we are essentially making the inferior choice whether or not it is evident to us at that very moment. God repeatedly lead His people to places they do not want to go - take Abraham standing in front of an altar sacrificing his son Isaac, or Joseph in an Egyptian jail cell after being wrongly convicted - we do not always understand why God places us where He does. But the beautiful thing is we do not have to understand why He is leading us there, to trust Him. God has good things in store for His children, and likewise God promised good things to Abraham and Joseph as well. God promised Abraham that he would have descendants more numerous than the stars and God promised Joseph through his dreams that he would one day rule over his brothers. I can imagine that while Abraham was at the altar, ready to sacrifice his only blood heir, he was starting to doubt how God would fulfill His promise. Nonetheless, he was obedient and through that, the Lord spared Isaac’s life and made him the father of a great nation. Joseph, I can assume, may have been reconsidering the validity of his dreams as he found himself in prison for years and a slave rather than a ruler, but God made a way for his dreams to hold true. Joseph would become second in command in the Nation of Egypt and would save the nation from famine. All this to say, God has really been teaching me to follow Him in all seasons, especially when He leads me somewhere I do not want to go.

In the New Testament, Jesus, the Son of God, continues this pattern for those who would follow Him. The story of the rich young ruler concludes in a way that makes me cringe each time I imagine myself in the position of this eager, successful, twenty-something young man, brimming with enthusiasm. “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” What an honorable request. It begins safe, with a collection of commandments posed as a measuring stick for righteousness, but then Jesus looks at him with love, “One thing you lack, sell everything you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.” In love, Jesus told him to trade his tarnishing pursuits for eternal possessions, in love Jesus invited him into the relationship he was created for, in love He instructed him to remove every hindrance to that pursuit. But, it didn’t make sense, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. In love, the young man went away sad; love, not for Jesus, not even for himself, but love for the fading standard of the world. This story, unlike the two previous examples, sketches out a path of disobedience – that we loose out when we choose the road more traveled by.

  Recently God placed a really precious gift in my hands. It was a gift He had promised yet it was much better than I had ever expected that I would one day behold. The gift was more than I could have asked for and it warmed my heart in a way which words fail to express. This was a gift I had been waiting for, a gift God had promised, but soon after it was placed in my hands, God was leading me to put it down, and I did not want to. It did not make sense to me as to how God would fulfill His promise of giving me this gift if He wanted me to put it down, it seemed counter-intuitive, but so does sacrificing your heir, being locked up in prison, and selling all of your possessions. But this is what I trust; I trust that God’s plans are not our plans, and He is able to fulfill promises He makes even if where He is leading us seems to suggest otherwise. He is far above our frame of reference; He is able to weave together circumstances in a way that beautifully fulfills His promises in a way that is most glorifying to Him. This is where my hope lies, that in the calm and in the storm, I will follow Him and He will lead me to the shore of His promises.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28