The roads I’ve traveled have taken a myriad of turns.
They’ve lead to places both good and bad.
If only I’d known how many lessons I would learn,
the results of my decisions to be had.
The first road I took was clear and bright, and the path was marked out, easy to track.
I was young and eager to trust in the Lord. I obeyed with no turning back.
The next road was gray and a bit unsteady for me, my adolescent heart was divided.
Which way to go? Would friends understand? My desires were often misguided.
Yet another road God would take me down,
was full of unknowns and fear.
I would travel farther than I had ever traveled in life,
Yet the journey was unmistakably clear.
He asked me to take risks I had never taken before,
to take them was something I didn’t question.
This journey, as it turned out, was life-changing for me
and with it left a soul-marking impression.
But the darkest, blackest road I have ever traveled
was the one that I chose personally.
When the turning point came, I chose my own way.
Pain came from this road mercilessly.
The bitter lessons I learned along this hard road,
what I would give to have learned a different way.
Having suffered the consequences for choosing this path,
how I wish I had chosen to obey.
And what of you, dear reader, what roads have you traveled?
Have they been dark? Or solid and true?
When you come to a turning point, what is it you decide?
Obey? Or settle. Which do you do?
When turning points come and we face a decision,
one thing we must never forget.
If we settle on the road that we want to take,
don’t be surprised if it ends in regret.
So, choose to listen and obey, not the other way around.
In following, we must persevere.
And when we do, we needn’t worry about the road,
for where He leads, there is no need to fear.
Photo by Brian Wangenheim (unsplash.com)
