What is a path? It can be defined as “a course of conduct” , “an established line of travel” or “a way especially designed for a particular use”. To simplify, there are really two paths we each have laid out in front of us. One is leading us to success and happiness, the other to struggle or turmoil.
In the area I live, the county has invested millions of dollars on a trail system. It is a network of paths for bikers, joggers or those who just want to take a walk through nature that in many areas is right next to major roads. Even though these paths are clearly marked, not a day goes by that I don’t come across multiple bikers and even joggers who are choosing to risk their lives by ridding or running on the major road in traffic even though there is a brand new paved and safe path just feet from the road. I wonder to myself and sometimes even say aloud, “why are they in the road when there is a perfectly good path right there to use?”
Why would a person choose to risk injury in the road when it is safer to be on the path? Maybe it is because they are too focused on the exercise to be concern with safety. Maybe they think three mile up the road the bike/jogging path will go in a different direction then they want to go so they figure they will just follow the road from start to finish. Could it be they know they are risking injury by being in the road and are daring fate? Do they just have that much trust in total strangers who are driving by them at 45 miles an hour or faster?
Is this any different than other choices we make in life? Many times we can’t see the path through the forest. Forest meaning our primary focus at the time maybe exercise is the focus in the case of the jogger or biker. Maybe it is the troubles we are currently experiencing. Financial trouble, family trouble, work trouble. There is always a path in front of us regardless of how thick the forest is.
How many times have you chosen the wrong path? Unhappy in your marriage so you leave to find happiness with someone else. Unhappy with yourself, so you find happiness in a bottle or with a drug. Job not going well so you quit, only to realize you can’t find another job making the money that you need to make. These are all paths that we chose to take, but they are not the right path. They are not safe paths. These choices are no different than riding or jogging in traffic with there is a safe path next to the road.
So what is the answer? What is the safe path? You must realize why you are choosing the wrong path. You are unhappy so you run down a new path. What are you really running from. The answer is staring at you in the mirror. You see, the only person that can change all the unhappiness in your life is you. Changing paths does not fix the real problem. It may mask it for a season, but the real issue is still in the mirror. You can’t run from you.
You can however, chose a safe path when you are unhappy. First, look to Christ, without Him as your foundation you will continue to chose the wrong path. You will think it is the right path for a season, but if the direction you are going is not in God’s overall plan in your life you will eventually come to a dead end, be unhappy again, and choose yet another path only to repeat the same process over and over again. However, by choosing Christ, by reaching up to Him and crying out “I don’t know the direction I should go, please lead me” you will finally be on the right path. The path that will lead to your overall happiness.
You may find that path leads you back home to your spouse. You may find that life at home is comfortable and the right place to be. You may realize that the bottle you keep drowning your trouble in is only making you feel worse, and that by drinking the truth of Christ, you feel safe and secure.
I know someone who has been given every opportunity to succeed. A private education, roof over their head, even spent some time serving this great country of ours in the military, but time and time again, this person has chosen the wrong path and ended up on the wrong side of the law. Why? Because they made a choice to seek happiness in every place except in God.
Don’t get me wrong, I too have gone down the wrong path a time or too, but I am thankful I realized quickly that the only one that was happy with my choice of direction was satan.
The Narrow and Wide Gates
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-18 (NIV)
Isn’t it time to change the path you are on? Time to go down the narrow path that leads to happiness and life today and ever after?
God gave us all free will and choice. If you have been changing paths time and time again to find happiness only to continue to feel unhappy, may I challenge you to try the path that God leads you to. You will know it is the right path because it will agree with His word in the Bible. I challenge you today to give it a try, try following Christ instead of yourself, instead of the world. Put your trust in Him just once and see how your life will change.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like god is another choice, the same as booze or drugs. They all have the same affect, numbing the mind and hiding the real problems.
Face yourself, face your fears, face your issues; then deal with them with all the power of your mind.
It’s you who is the only one that can really fix you, not some ethereal make-believe entity whose shadow you could hide behind.
The vast majority seek and find happiness without god and they certainly don’t end up on the wrong side of the law.
Hi Rebecca, thank you for reading and commenting. Satan is the master of deception, at making us “think” we can go it alone without God. True that many seek happiness without God and don’t end up on the wrong side of man’s law, but what side of Christ will they be standing on when He returns?
Satan could be the master of deception, if you believe in him. If you don’t, there’s no problem.
Many of the most successful people do go it alone without god. Only those who can’t or won’t take full responsibility for themselves rely on a god.
And what if christ isn’t ‘the one’, what if any of the other religions are right instead?
I’m not just saying these things to ‘tease’ you, they are what I believe and I not seen any proof to the contrary.
I understand what you are saying is what you believe, just as what I am saying is what I believe. That is why this country is so great, we each have the right and freedom of free speech and open opinion. Thank you again for reading, I have included you in my prayers, that one day you will see “proof to the contrary” that there is a God. Blessings Rebecca.
and I shall hold out hope for you Kim.
I’ll hold my breath until evolutionary law is 100% proven and you can hold your breath until god is 51% proven – let’s see who turns blue first.
Best wishes.
I found this article looking for something completely different, but as a believer, feel the need to post. After reading your entry, I love that you find happiness in God and in Christ, and although your intention may be different, your blog implies that following Christ leads to happiness – which is not always the case. Becoming a follower of Christ does not mean in anyway that we will not endure struggles, or face hardships or times of complete sorrow. We live in a fallen world and we will endure those things just as unbelievers do. Job, a very faithful believe, suffered immensely. There is most definitely an underlying joy knowing that we are provided unconditional grace, and that we will someday be without pain and suffering (not before the rapture), but we will continue to face trials, and our faith will be tested.
Hi Carmella, I agree. God never promised us a life free from hurt, heartache, job loss, family member loss or some other turmoil. What He did promise is that He will always be with us and He will never give us more than we can endure. It is by having faith in Him that we are able endure. That is part of the message I hope is conveyed in my blog. It is a broken world, and even though I am a follower of Christ I still am confronted with hurt and/or struggles. I pray each post will in some way encourage or help those who read. I am blessed and pray my readers will in some way find that they are blessed as well, even if it is something as simple as saying they can see, are healthy, have a friend or family member who loves them or maybe all they have is a loyal pet, they are blessed with that pet who loves them unconditionally. Regardless of the struggle we are going through, there is always something we can look at in our life to find happiness, we may not see it during the height of the storm but God will always show you something to be happy for. Thank you for commenting I hope you will visit and comment often.