Straight Paths

I love this place. It is so peaceful. The flowers beckon me to continue along the path, yet, I don't know what is beyond my view. I find the bench is a very safe and comfortable place to be. I can sit there and enjoy everything around me. For a time, that is a profitable rest, but then the path is still calling to me. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Prov. 3:5-6. From where I stand, this doesn't look like a straight path. There are so many changes ahead, most of them I can't see. I don't know what they will be like. I think I'll stay on the bench. But God calls me to trust in Him and He will make my path straight. Even if it doesn't look like it to me. I need to acknowledge Him and keep on the path. Who knows the blessings and beauty He has for me beyond the bend. I can't trust my understanding. I may think I know what is best, but it is God who sees the eternal picture. He reminds, even commands me to remember my past paths. To remember how He directed and protected. And how the experience along the path have been for my own good. The wonderful ones, of course, but even the difficult ones. If I had not gotten off the bench and moved along the path, think of the many blessings I would not have experienced, the faith growth I would have starved. So, as I look down the path, at all the changes, the unknowns, the possibilities I will not fall into the sin of Unbelief and be discouraged. I will trust in Him. I will look with eagerness to what is ahead remembering the blessings and lessons of the past. The flowers beckon. The path is waiting and the journey is yet to be completed.