We love to watch the History Channel. I could have enjoyed American history so much more if my teacher had told us stories instead of facts.
Once, we watched a biography of Daniel Boone. I didn’t know much about him, but I learned he was passionate about the wilderness and finding a path through the mountains to the West. How do you forge a trail through old-growth forest? How do you figure out which way to go to get over the mountains? I’m sure he looked for a straight path because that would have been the easiest.
We, too, look for straight paths. Sometimes we think we can do it alone. What usually happens is that the path is not straight or easy.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. In this beloved verse, God tells us to trust Him, not to rely on ourselves, and to submit to Him. Then He will make our path straight. Sounds easy, but without practice, it is not so easy. When we are in the middle of something, many times our first thought is not to turn to God but to figure the way out on our own.
Daniel Boone was a Christian. In 1816, he wrote, “The religion I have is to love and fear God, believe in Jesus Christ, do all the good to my neighbor and myself that I can, do as little harm as I can help, and trust God’s mercy for the rest.”
I‘m sure Daniel Boone called on God in those scary times in the mountains as he led a group of people to an unknown destination. Unlike Daniel Boone, we know our destination. We have a God who leads and directs us if we ask.
Rest assured that your path will be straight if you ask God to be your guide.
Kitty Metzger is an award-winning author, wife, mother, and grandmother who lives in Marietta, Georgia. She teaches a senior women’s Sunday school class and is active in Community Bible Study. She is president of her local Word Weavers writers’ group. When she’s not writing or grandmothering, she is an avid embroiderer.