Are we lost?

When the kids were young, we would take a summer vacation and go to a cabin in the woods of northern Minnesota for a week. The kids could swim or fish or canoe or hike, whatever made them happy, and we loved all those things too.

Our favorite cabin spot sat on a very large lake with an island in the middle. The island was small, too small for any buildings, but it had a hiking trail on it. The girls and I liked to take the boat to the island and just go exploring. One thing about an island, you can't really get lost, because no matter where you end up, you can always find your way back. Even if you get off the path, the shore will always lead you back to where you started.

I often wonder if we think life works that way? If our walk with Christ is like a path on an island? Do I always just assume that if I get off course, I’ll end up in the right spot? I’ll get a redo, I’ll get a chance to start over if I want to?

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Each time I study this verse, I see it in new light.

As believers, I think we have this picture in our head of Christ walking alongside us on a narrow path and each time we fall, He eagerly picks us up and puts us back on the path. And I think that is an encouraging thought, but I'm not sure it's accurate. Christ can only help if we are on the path He has chosen for us.

This world is full of paths that twist and turn and wind throughout the noise and chaos of our busy lives. It is like a road map with a destination to whatever outcome we choose. Christ is just one of those choices. The path with Christ is lit with His word and the choices He would have us make, but those are our choices to make. Christ does not force us to make any of those choices. Free will is exactly what it says... It is your will to be free in whatever choices you make.

I am only speaking from my own experience. Throughout the years there have been many times when I wandered off the path with Christ and tried a different path on my own. A distraction grabs my attention and I find myself off course and on an unfamiliar path. It seems like an easy stroll at first, but eventually another distraction comes along, and another, and then another, and before I know it, I’m so far off course I don’t even see Christ anymore and I’m so caught up in all the distractions that I don’t have time to look for Him.

And some of those distractions have pretty lights… pretty enough to keep you distracted for a long time. Sometimes, forever.

This world is not an island.

We can choose whatever path we want. Thank goodness, when I was lost, I had enough sense to remember what it felt like to be found. The greatest gift we have is the light of Jesus. In that moment when we are at our weakest, when we are lost and surrounded by the distractions of this world, all we have to do is ask, and His light guides our way. It’s not always an easy walk back to the path He had chosen for us, but He is with us on the journey.

Have you ever wondered why they say, “our walk with Christ?” I think it is that journey. I think it is such a time when He walks alongside us on the narrow path and each time we fall, He eagerly picks us up and puts us back on the path. But we have to remember that at any moment a distraction may come along and grab our attention. How strong is your faith? Will your eyes stray from the narrow path? Will you stay focused on the Lord or will the pretty lights hold your interest just long enough to step off the path?

Those are questions I ask myself all the time. It is hard to stay on the path. I ask Christ DAILY to help me stay focused. I will never take that light for granted. I know how easy it is to get caught up in the pretty lights, to get distracted in the noise and chaos of life… to fool myself into thinking I can find my way back on my own.

The pretty lights may fill a space, but His light fills my soul.

Psalm 119:105 ESV

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.