Trail Blazer

God has your life trail already blazed—cleared.  Did you know that?

I was reminded of His path as I was hiking in Robbers Cave State Park (RCSP) in Oklahoma.  God tells us in Jeremiah 9:11 that He knows the plans—the path He has for us.  The path won’t lead to destruction but rather to prosperity in the Lord.  Yet so often we stray off God’s path.

Why is that?  Are we in a hurry and can’t wait on God to lead us?  Do we think we are God and can do it all ourselves?  I bet we might think we can blaze our own trail.

I went down a path at the park I thought was a trail.  It was clear, looked like it had been walked on, and so I hiked down it for nearly 0.5 miles (I was tracking my distance on my Fitbit device) before realizing it was not a trail.  It had led me along some uneven and rocky terrain, and the result was me walking straight to the end where a large coniferous tree blocked my way forward, there was a steep downward slope to the lake on my left, and a large upward slope to the rocky cliffs on my right.  My only course of action was to turn around, climb up the rocky cliffs on my right, and reorient.  Once I came out of the rubble and looked around, I noticed a marker some 200 meters (thank God for Army land navigation teaching me meters instead of feet) to my left indicating the start of a proved and tried trail.  Blue/red/yellow markers led the way throughout the numerous trails within Robbers Cave State Park.

Proverbs 14:12 tells us that there is a way—a path—that appears right, but in the end, leads to death.  I took a chance climbing up and down those bluffs being unscathed by the detour, but I could have just as easily been hurt.  In our spiritual walk; however, there is no luck.  We stray off the path God has trail blazed for us, we head to our own destruction.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it (NKJV).”  The first path I took was broad, and it seemed like the way to go.  However, it wasn’t marked and therefore was not the correct path for me to take.

God has marked the path for us.  He sent Jesus to blaze our trail.  Jesus tells His disciples in John 14:6 that He [Jesus] is the way.  Jesus is the marker that tells us we are on the right path.  We must follow Him on our journey of life just as surely as we must follow the trail markers if we are to find our way to what God has for us.

However, just because we are following Jesus does not mean the trail will be smooth.  While hiking on even the marked trails at RCSP, I came across uneven terrain, loose rocky steps, narrow twists and turns, and sloped surfaces both up and down.  I sweated as my body labored hiking these trails while carrying the burden of my rucksack on my back.  The difference between this trail versus the one I attempted was at least I knew where I was going this time, and it made the trail less dangerous for me than the one I made up.  So then is our Christian walk the same.  Our lives will still be difficult—trying at times; however, if we are following God and seeking Jesus daily, the burden is decreased.

There were also times the painted markers were hard to see.  The sun was in my eyes, some of the paint had faded, or other natural objects obscured the markers from being viewed directly.  A few times I still went off the marked trail because I thought I was following the right path only to no longer see the guides.  I had to circle back around to find the point I had walked off the actual trail.  Sometimes even as we are trying to keep our eyes on Jesus, the world can trick us.  We think we are doing what God wants us to do, but we come to find out we had strayed from our walk with Him.  We must turn around and get back on the right trail.

What I learned that day from hiking along those trails was to slow down, make sure I was on the right path, and trust in the markers to lead me.  Who are you trusting today?  Is it Jesus?  If not, then you are lost and need to come back.  God has blazed a trail for us, Jesus is our guide, and we need to follow Him in this journey we call life.

By the way, if I had taken the time at the start of my hike to look around, there was a trail marker to the left of me which would have led me down those rocky cliffs, alongside that lake, around it, and to the area I was wanting to find in the first place.  See what happens when we are in too much of a hurry and try to do things our way?