Sometimes it feels like we are headed down a one way path.
Sometimes forks pop up and you have the option to keep going straight on what you had planned for the next five, ten, fifteen years and then you just keep adding to your own plan. You have your goals, your opinions, and you are going down a one way highway to your dreams. Other times, a fork pops up because your direction is being changed. Not necessarily because it goes along with our plan but because there’s something better in store, something we didn’t see, something that could make our heart want to jump out of our chest. Sometimes, there’s a fork that is called temptation and we dread those forks because it is difficult to not veer down that road. Although, it is always difficult to come back to the right path once we cave because we have inserted a complicated element of confusion all on our own.
Maybe you’ve experienced one of these forks or maybe you’ve experienced all of them. Regardless, when we choose to follow Jesus our direction is up and we look to Him to guide us down this path of life. Forks and all.
I thought I had my life all figured out. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do and exactly who I wanted to be and how I wanted to live. I was wrong because sometimes who we think we are going to be when we are fifteen is a delusional dream, but not always. So much changed as I grew older but so much more changed when I finally let the walls around my heart crumble to dust because that’s when God worked the most, when I was the most vulnerable, and when I was the most open to change.
Then I thought I had it all down. I thought I had figured out, what God wanted me to do and I was doing it. I’ve learned God doesn’t keep us in one place forever. We can plan all we want and decide all we want and commit all we want but when God shows you a fork, and you are holding His hand, and He says, “This is your direction”…how can I deny that and how can I say, “no”. He may have you on the straight and narrow and he may have you free-scaling mountains. For me, He has redirected me in ways that I find it impossible to plan too far ahead. The best part is I don’t want to because I want my heart to be open to what God has in store because what He has planned for this grand adventure and my story is far better than the story I could write on my own.
So, my direction is up. When I look up everything down here seems to fall into place the way it is supposed to and the right forks show up at the right time. What I’m going to succeed in, what I’m going to try and fail at, what I’m going to learn from, and what I am going to be able to offer others. Remember that He holds your perfect plan. Be His clay and let him mold you into a masterpiece of brilliance that came from the hands of the Creator. Say “yes” when he shows you what to accept and say “no” when temptation shows its ugly face. That’s beautiful, that’s true, that’s love, and that’s following hard after Jesus.
The Celeste Elizabeth 