The Path

Back in 2004, the country group Rascal Flatts released their album Feels Like Today.  One of their big hits from that album was Bless the Broken Road. Around the time the song came out I found myself recovering or at least attempting to recover from a failed romance.  I had had a crush on a girl for a couple years and my last effort to woo her had been rebuffed.  This song spoke to me.  I could resonate with the "broken road" imagery.  Every attempt at romance that I had pursued had only ended in my pain.  The road felt extremely broken. There seemed to be pitfalls and potholes all around.  Every time I tried to zig the road zagged a different direction.  Looking back on those days, it all seems fairly juvenile to me.  It felt extremely painful at the time, but those scars, those hurts shaped me.  The brokeness of the road had a direction just not one I could see at the time.  Now, I look back and I know that my starts and failures were for the best. I eventually found my wife, a woman who is all that I could ask for and more.  My road brought me to her and now we journey this path together. 

The Path or the road is a frequent idea in the Bible.  We are called to walk in the good way to ask for the ancient paths in Jeremiah.  Jesus tells us that narrow is the way that leads to life. Isaiah says that the path of the rigtheous is level. Hebrews tells us that those God loves he disciplines.  His discipline trains us for the journey.  I look back on my path of the broken road and see that God was making a level path for me.  The brokeness of my journey strengthened me.  It molded me and shaped me.  The path we walk shapes us.  The ancients understood life as a maze.  Each step in the maze was a step of faith with only enough light to see the step ahead.  These steps took faith to trust the one who made the maze.  That the Creator had a destination in mind.  A destination of good and not ill.  At times, my path has been painful and I anticipate those broken places will come again, but I trust that the one who knows my path is leading me towards good and not ill.  Each step brings me closer to my destination, the home he has prepared for me.  I will keep walking my broken road trusting that my paths will be made level and straight. 

"Trust in Yahweh with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

Vision

I am intrigued by passage of scripture found in Mark 8:22-26.  In this passage, Jesus comes to the town of Bethsaida.  When he gets there, some people bring him a blind man.  They beg Jesus to touch him.  Jesus takes the man by the hand and leads him outside the village where he spits on his eyes and puts his hands on the man.  Then, Jesus asks a penetrating question, "Do you see anything?" The man looks up and says, "I see people, they look like trees walking around."  Jesus put his hands on the eyes one more time and it says that his eyes were opened, his sight restored, and he saw everything clearly. 

I find this story very intriguing.  Maybe part of the reason is my own vision problems.  If I don't wear my glasses or contacts things far away become very blurry. People could appear to be trees. Yet, the bigger issue for me is not my physical sight. I think what draws me to this passage has to do with spiritual vision. When it comes to spiritual vision, my sight can become blurry.  If Jesus were to ask me, do you see anything? Would I be able to respond with more than blurryness?

Vision is important in the life of the disciple of Christ.  God wants us to see clearly.  He wants us to see clearly who we are? Do you see yourself clearly? God speaks very clearly in scripture about his vision for us. He says that we are chosen, blessed, powerful, clothed with Christ, saints, workmen, servants, and more than conquerors.  There are days that I don't see myself that way. I see a sinner, weak, small, doubtful, and less than deserving.  But that is not who I am.  God wants me to see clearly who I am. A man called by him, chosen for the work before me, empowered by his Spirit to do his work.  There is no room for shrinking, only room for growing. Christ has called me to dream big, to love much, to press on, to keep my head high, to be his, and to lead under his direction. He has given me a fire in my bones to proclaim his word, to teach and equip his people for works of service. God has given to each of us a vision for how we fit in his kingdom. 

If Jesus asks you, do you see anything? How would you respond? Do you see people that look like trees or do you see clearly who he has called you to be and the mission he has laid before you?