The Path

"Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land that you are about to enter and occupy." Deuteronomy 5:33

I have another story to share with you,  which happened during my prayer and fasting time a few weeks ago. I was sick with a virus and was sitting in the car waiting for my husband to get a cold drink. As I sat there in the car, I saw a homeless lady in the parking lot.  It was a very hot day in Hawaii and yet this lady wore a heavy black trench coat. Her appearance was quite disheveled. I watched her, like a movie unfolding in front of me, with her putting her bike down then walking around the cars. She just walked straight up to me to where I was sitting in the car by the open window. Her appearance was shocking for her hair was matted, her nails were black and she had no front teeth. It appeared that she was young because she had no white hair on her head, and yet, her face was wrinkled and quite old from the wear of life. She approached my window and asked, "How you doing?" Her voice was gentle and she had a slight Southern accent. I felt a sweetness in her soul which was the opposite from her outward appearance. I looked at her and told her about my sore throat and how I was not feeling well. In her gentle voice, she told me about the swelling in her face and how she also was not feeling well.  We just began to talk and she eventually asked for money and I had no hesitation to give her a bill from my wallet. She took it and then before she walked away, she looked at me and said, "you are lucky, you have a car! I used to have one." Then without another word, she turned around and left. I sat there stunned! What just happened? Who was this homeless person that had a gentle soul? Then I heard the gentle voice of our Lord say to me, "That could have been you! The difference between her and you is her choices in life. She has made some bad choices and you have chosen to follow me. She too was born just like everyone else with a mother, father and family. But through her life she kept making one poor choice after another and it has led her to where she is today." When I heard that, I realized that it could be me. I could be homeless and begging for money on the street. Here was a sweet young girl with a gentle spirit within, who kept taking the wrong path in life which led her further and further away from God.

I know that God has chosen a path for all of us to follow and it is our conscious choice, our free will, to follow it or not. I wondered how I can stay on the path that God calls me. By this scripture in Deuteronomy, I realized that I need to follow the kind of life that God wants me to, by following His laws. If we want to have a good life, not only by following His laws, but to read His Word and get to know the promises that He has for all of us. The written Word is our GPS, or road map in life. It is amazing that today, we have God's Word at our fingertips. We can go on the computer and "google" any topic we want, listen to television or radio, hear podcasts on our iPods or other high tech means. There are bibles all around and we can even find them in hotel rooms. God Word is all around us! All we need to do is take that first step, and that is to seek Him out! If you seek Him, you will find Him. Then, He will begin to show you the path He wants you to travel. God has made it easy, in this day and age, to know the path He wants us to take in life. Begin today by picking up His Word and find the path He wants you to travel.

Have you ever taken the wrong path in making a poor decision? What were your choices? How are you going to do a path correction this day?