The Lord directs my path

Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. NAS

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. KJV

 

Sometimes I wondered just how do things going wrong actually work out for good? How does the Lord direct my path even when I am clueless of what he wants?

 

Admittedly even in hindsight often I haven’t got a clue. I am grateful for the times when the Lord reveals to me that his hand was in it even though I was clueless.

 

I would like to share a story of one such event.

I live in Southern Oregon and my nephew John at the time lived in Yreka California. We talked on the phone and planned my visit. I brought my friend Becky with me, and we set out.

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It was an hour and a half drive to get there. When we arrived, I knocked on the door and no one answered. How could he not be home? He knew I was coming over! I knocked on the door a couple of times. Still no answer.

 

Talking it over with Becky we reasoned that perhaps we should try back later. It was still early in the day, and I thought since I drove this far why not drive another 50 miles to Castle Crags State Park. I was determined to make a good day out of even if my nephew flaked out!

 

There is a nice hike there that I always enjoyed. There is a trail that goes up through some wilderness and comes out at a huge rock they call the Dome. It offers some great views of Mt Shasta and surrounding territory.

 

Becky and I set out on the trail we were approaching where the trail intersected with the Pacific Crest Trail. (That is a trail that goes from Mexico to Canada.) As we approached, we could hear someone screaming and crying! What in the world is going on? We rushed up the trail to find out. We found a little girl all by herself. She was scared to death. We talked with her, calming her down and we prayed with her. She apparently was with some grown-ups who told her to wait there, and they would be right back.

 

We waited there with her for maybe about an hour and nobody came. We found out that the little girl had arrived in a car that was parked at the trailhead. We hiked back to the trailhead and located the car, but no one was there.

 

We waited there a while longer trying to decide what to do. We finally made our decision.

 

We left a note on the car stating that we found the little girl and were taking her to the park’s ranger station just down the road. Becky and I then took her down there and explained to them all of what had happened.

 

This was obviously concerning, somewhere out there were some grownups responsible for this little girl. What happened to them? Were they hurt somewhere? Perhaps they got disoriented and got on the Pacific Crest Trail. That was a horrible thought! They could hike for days on that thinking the trail would come out somewhere.

 

The people at the Rangers office reassured us that they would immediately investigate it. Then Becky and I said our goodbyes to the little girl and reassured her she was in good hands. We drove back to Yreka to see if John was home yet.

 

It turns out John was home the whole time. He was sound asleep and did not hear us knocking on the door. I think back on that, and I am amazed. I thought I was going to Yreka to spend the day with my nephew. Then my plans changed, and I thought I was going to hike up to the Dome in Castle Crags State Park.

 

Little did I know that the Lord had other plans for me that I was completely clueless to! I do not believe any of this was a coincidence. It makes me wonder how many times the Lord was involved in something that we do not know anything about, what was behind it.

 

Suppose you went out to get in your car to go somewhere only to discover you had a flat tire. Are you just having some bad luck? Perhaps the Lord caused your tire to go flat to delay you, preventing a car wreck.

 

The point is we really do not know. We do know that scripture tells us the Lord can cause all things to work together for good for them that love God. Scripture also tells us that He will direct our paths, if we acknowledge him, but it does not tell us how. I think that is why we should remain thankful even when it appears to us things are going wrong. Are they really? Pray and communicate with the one in control who knows everything!