For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me…
Psalm 31:3 (ESV)
Although thousands of hikers are on the Appalachian Trail (AT) every year, the trail itself is generally very narrow.
Sometimes the blazing (painted white rectangles on the trees), is very faded or sparse.
On top of that you may have herd paths (places where people wander around off the trail), as well as other trails (official or unofficial) merging with the AT.
At times you are just not paying attention and/or walking in a zone (more in your head than concentrating on the trail).
Sometimes you go off the trail to take a break at a view or shelter, and when you come back to the trail you go the wrong way, back in the direction you came from.
One year there was a guy whose trail name was “Wrong Way.” He was constantly going back the way he came or wandering off on a different trail. Somewhere he would see a sign or someone would tell him he was going the wrong way and he would make his way back to where he was supposed to be. His fellow hikers were constantly leaving arrows for him at junctions and questionable areas. If they took a break off the trail with him they would leave an arrow back at the trail as to which way he needed to go. Some said if he ever finished the AT before winter he will have hiked the trail TWICE! 😊
Between Mount Katahdin in Maine and Springer Mountain in Georgia, I sure made my wrong turns. A few times I ended up a mile or two off course and it was more than a little frustrating. ☹
You do it enough and it can mean your pack, that gets heavier as the day goes on, is coming off later now. It also means less sleep that night if you are going to get up at your regular time. It can mean a missed rendezvous with someone or some event. It can mean getting to town a day later or a shorter stay than you hoped. (A MAJOR BAD!!) It can mean cutting a section hike shorter than you planned or if you are hiking back to your car, it can mean a scramble to get back home on time.
As frustrating and as costly as it can be when you find you are hiking off course, it is very little when compared to getting off course spiritually.
The prophet Jeremiah makes that very clear in Jeremiah 6:16a, This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” (NIV)
I can assure you that hikers pay VERY CLOSE attention to every crossroad along the AT. They stand there looking for one path, and one path only, the old path of the AT. There is definitely rest for your soul when you know you have chosen well and are going the right way.
It would be nice if at the crossroads of life there was a physical white blaze to tell us which way to go next. The world has created thousands of herd paths in search for their way, just making our decision even more difficult. Some write books in an endeavor to establish an official path they say we should all follow. At times we just blow through important crossroads not paying any attention to where we are headed next. Some of us may have been careful in the past to walk on the path of righteousness, but somewhere we got off the path for a break and took a wrong turn afterwards. Maybe our spiritual trail name should be “Wrong Way.”
Proverbs 14:12 warns us that, There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. (NIV)
Praise the Lord for Psalm 31:3! For you are my rock (my anchor, my north star) and my fortress (my protection, my map); and for your name’s sake (Your glory and my complete wellbeing) you lead me (go before me) and guide me… (walk me to and along the right path).
If somehow we got lost along the way, the Lord stands ready to rush to our side and will never leave nor forsake us if we call on Him. He will personally guide us all the way back to the right path. If we are standing confused at a crossroad in our life, the Lord can guide us safely through a million herd paths. If we are questioning our self at a crossroad because of some book an “expert” wrote, the Lord will reveal what is truth if we ask Him.
Jeremiah 6:16 concludes with, But you said, “We will not walk in it.”
Don’t make that choice! ☹ Jesus warns us in Matthew 16:26, And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (NLT)
The answer is in verse 27, you gain an eternity without Christ being in judgment. For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. (NLT)
That would be A LOT more than frustrating; it would be eternally catastrophic.
A white blaze on the AT is about two inches by five inches. Maybe it would be a beneficial thing for us to make one of these blazes and hang it in our car, or around our TV, or computer, or at work, or everywhere 😊 to help us to stay on the Lord’s ancient path.
- Note: The way of salvation can be found in the article, “The Gospel: Genesis to Revelation.” (I beg of you not to lose your soul.)
Faith Aids 