By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Look straight ahead,
and fix your eyes
on what lies before you.
Mark out a straight path
for your feet;
stay on the safe path.
Don’t get sidetracked.
Prov. 4:25-27
Stay on the path. A simple directive. As simple as the one about not eating a certain tree’s fruit in a certain garden.
This passage from the fourth chapter of Proverbs marked the first page of my journal for 2020. I was quite proud of myself for choosing such a beacon for the year ahead.
However, in one important area of my life, I did not heed its warning.
I got off the path and it didn’t go well. Turning around and getting back on track saved me.
In the 1952 Christian classic, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says of progress, “If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.”
Turning around and starting over is humbling. It is also wise.
In these first few weeks of 2021, I’ve suffered less important, yet similar, miscalculations. Romans 7:15 reminds me that the things I want to do I don’t, and the things I don’t want to do, I do! There’s a little bit of Fuzzy-Wuzzy-was-a-bear going on in this verse, but I’ve come to understand those words more than ever before.
I think I can boil them down to: “I knew better.”
Getting back on the right path involves accepting the grace offered. It involves learning from mistakes in hopes of not repeating them. It involves paying attention and listening.
God is never in a hurry. That’s a big clue to who’s behind the voice I hear pestering me to do certain things.
“Fix your eyes …. Don’t get sidetracked.”
The safe path might not be easy, but God never promised it would be. He just promised He’d be with us.
“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
Hebrews 13:5
Still Cale did not understand. Confusion clouded his eyes as they darted across Ella’s face, frantically searching.
“I have to go back and make amends with my father,” she said. “If I don’t, he will die a ravaged and lonely man, in spite of his wealth and so-called friends. I have to make him see that he must let go of the pain and loss if he wants to live again.”
“But what if he won’t?” ~A Change of Scenery
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
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(c) 2021 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
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Wise words, thank you!
Thank you, Jennifer. Now to ingrain them in my soul.
Thanks for your honesty Davalynn, and for the reminder that God is never in a hurry. Your influence is vast and we know who’d like to ruin it. I’ll be praying for you, and
love, Phylis
Thank you, Phylis. God is so faithful.