The sky was dark as I started the tractor and baler to running. Only one headlight shone on the path before me, and it was hard to tell if I was really baling the rows of hay. It was hard to tell if I was on the right path.
After a little while, I was certain I was on the right row making hay bales, and I grew confident and comfortable with it as I drove along. Suddenly, the row ended, and I had to turn to the next row. No problem! I could see a big pile of dry alfalfa lying right there for me. I pulled into the row and baled that up, then I drove, and drove, and drove with NOTHING to bale. It appeared that there was no hay on this row now.
I began to get worried. Had I come down the right row? Was I on the really on the right path? I was certain that I had followed the path and gone into the next row, but now that there was no hay, I began to question if I was going the right way. I thought about veering off, and going onto the other row beside me. It had lots of hay! I could just swing over and start grabbing that, right?
I struggled with the idea for a moment, then I just decided to keep going the way I was going. After all, what could it hurt? I may waist time doing nothing, but surely if the path lead me to this row, then surely there was more hay on it.
It was hard for me to stay focused on the row and stay focused on it. I knew that if I stayed on it, and didn't get a thing, I had just wasted a lot of time and would be a complete fool! But, if I veered from it to go to another row, I would only be completing half the job, and I may miss hay later down the line. If that happened, I would be an even greater fool.
Following the Lord often feels the same way.
The road is dark, and you cannot see where you are going, but you trust that He has lead you the right way. You start to grow comfortable with your walk and that is when God smiles at you. He suddenly cuts that road off and points you to a new one.
You may be really nervous entering that road.... or you may feel confident, knowing that He is with you and you see the fruit from it right away, so what have you to worry about? But then, the path you are on becomes quiet and bare. Nobody nor anything are on it. You become lonely, and you start to wonder if you really are walking the right way. You know that God sent you this way, but He does not seem to be here now. You think: Maybe I went the wrong way accidentally? I just know that God told me to go this way, but what if I have this all figured wrong?
Then you glance at the other side and see all the fruit there. It is tempting to dive into it. It looks exciting and alive on the other side!
At the same time friends start to tell you that you ARE going the wrong way. "Get over here on this path and thought pattern!" They say.
Then your family jumps into it "No, you are fine. What on earth are you doing thinking about going over there? Maybe you should just stop and think about it!"
All the pulling and shoving and calling and bickering has you confused. You want to be loyal to your friends, but you don't want to throw your family in the ditch either. Most of all you DON'T want to make the wrong move and blow it!!
You pray and cry out to God. Where is He? What does he want? He is trying to speak to you, but all the bickering around you has made it almost impossible to hear Him.
Finally, you decide to stay on the path that He pointed you to. You KNOW this is the way He wants you to go.
Your friends get angry, and say that you are being controlled and you are not being independent. All becomes quiet again. You are alone. But what could you do? You would be called a fool if you went the other way, but you are being called a fool for staying... What can you do but go the way that you know without a doubt God wants you to go? Walking the middle road, the one God pointed you to is the best way. It is quiet and lonely, and you have eyes glaring at you from every side, but you know this is the way God wants you to go. You have to keep going.
It seemed like forever, but it was not long before I came upon hay...lots of hay! The baler gobbled it up and smashed it into square bales, tied the string around it, then spit it out the back into the fading darkness. I was SO GLAD that I had stayed on that row. If I had not, I would have missed all the hay!
That is the same way in our walk with God. If you don't stay on the path that He pointed you to, you will miss all the opportunities that He had in store for you. If you don't go through the trials of people pulling on you from every side, then you will never grow strong and you will hardly be confident and comfortable in the opposite path. You may look like a fool, but isn't it worth it? People may hate you and fiercely oppose you, but I take that as I sign that you are FOR SURE on the right path.
I know that I would rather look like a fool for the Lord, than a fool that follows men!
No comments:
Post a Comment