Sometimes I feel like no matter what I do…I always end up right back here.
I’m standing in the middle of two wide lines running in opposite directions, but overlapping each other in the shape of a large letter “T”. I look in all directions to see how far the lines go, and each one seems to disappear where the line meets white clouds atop a blue canvas. The lines are made of hard rock that shines brightly black with specks of white that randomly spot the lines paths, like stars in the night sky. Clumps of grass blades in various fall colors litter the paths as well, revealing just how long the rock roads have existed.
The lines are infinite…the lines are mystery.
No, this is not the yellow brick road leading me to Oz.
This is the place where another new choice must be made and these roads…this intersection…is where the all too familiar sinking feeling in my gut breaks me out in a cold sweat, and reminds me how easily I forgot what coming back to this place always feels like.
I shudder…I gasp…I worry.
I do these things because when I find myself in this place it usually means something in my life has ended…and now something new must begin. My stress and my panic reside in knowing I have to take the first step in a new and unknown direction. I look at the options before me…I look at the intersection and once again wonder which road is the right one to take?
Where will each path lead me in my life? What will I experience? Where will I go? Where will I end up?
Will I be happy? Will I face heartache? After walking down the road of my choosing for a time…of living my life…will I eventually find myself right back here at the intersection again?
What road do I take? What direction? What would God have me do?
It’s in the middle of my doubt and questioning that the truth suddenly becomes clear to me.
As long as God is with me…it doesn’t matter what road I choose to take. Choosing to live a life of faith in God means so much more than just believing in Him; it also means trusting in His best for our lives and resting in the assurance of His promise that He will, “never leave or forsake us.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)
The truth that we should keep in our hearts and take with us as we travel the roads of life and encounter places of crossing paths, is that life begins at the intersection.
Life begins at the intersection.
As this revelation overwhelms my heart, the intersection and the roads before me that make it up, suddenly lose their dark color and begin to fade away. But instead of being filled with fear, I instead choose to trust that I don’t need to see the path before me; instead I believe that God will reveal its existence in my life as I walk my life out.
I begin to walk forward and each time my feet touch the ground beneath me, the road flashes bright colors I’ve never seen before. Inside myself I hear the beautiful words of the Psalms breathe life into my heart, “Your word is a lamp for my steps; it lights the path before me.”
I walk gaining confidence, knowing that at some point I will probably experience a moment in life that will suddenly bring me to the dark streets of the intersection again; but when that time comes I will not forget that the intersection is not a step back in life, but instead a new set of paths leading me to my ultimate destination of being with Jesus.
These many roads that we walk in our lives to reach Him are not meant to make us weak and unimportant…their meant to make us and our faith stronger and enhance the calling and purpose God has meant for us. We just have to believe it!
The intersection is not the end and it’s not the panic we make it to be…it’s the beginning of making our choice to keep living life to the fullest no matter the circumstance. And that life is there for the living, we just have to choose to walk it out.
Life begins at the intersection.
Life begins at the intersection.
