Perceived Paths

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He 

will make your paths straight."

You’ve likely encountered the “cone zone,” where hundreds of little orange cones guide you through a construction site. I have often wondered at how God enabled us to recognize a broken path. A highway has an unbroken path of clearly painted lines to stay within. Cones have a perceived line, but the actual line is broken.

We encounter these perceived pathways everywhere we go. From the pathways we create with furniture in our living rooms to the paths we follow in the wilderness that must be marked, lest we stray. It is almost as though we finish or fill in the path in our own minds, and an invisible, yet binding, path lies before us.

I am thankful God created these perceived paths, or navigation would be much more difficult (and costly). I may have mentioned before I am “directionally challenged,” so perceived paths really help point me in the right direction. If I stick to the perceived path, I won’t get lost - assuming I can recognize it!

God has laid down individual paths for His children, and most often, they aren’t set in solid lines. We have to perceive the path in between. Yet, just as He gave us the ability to recognize perceived paths in the physical realm, He has given us His Holy Spirit and the Bible in order to recognize spiritual perceived paths. Sin clouds our perspective, and we get lost. Yet God's power supersedes even that. He is faithful to lead and guide us if we are faithful to follow.

I thank the Lord for His guidance along the perceived spiritual path He has set before me. May I remain attentive to where His markers lead. Where has your path led so far?