Finding the Way
Ezra
8:21
Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. (NKJ)
Have you ever been lost, I mean, really lost? When I was a teenager, our youth group went on a hike to Larch Mountain in the Columbian Gorge, east of Portland. Everyone was to stay together and bring flashlights incase we needed one. What was supposed to be a short hike turned out to be much, much longer than expected. The long summer days of Oregon were not enough to allow most of the group to make it to the end of the journey. Nightfall came surprisingly fast.
In
the blackened forests out of reach of the city lights, a new level of darkness
exists. It was so black that it was
hard to see your hand in front of your face.
Only the star bejeweled skies sprinkled us with their meager radiance.
As night came about, twenty or so of my friends noticed two things.
First, they had forgotten to bring their flashlights.
And second, I had remembered mine.
Needless to say, when you can’t see where you are going, it is good to
befriend one who has the light. So
without choice I became their leader. But,
even though I had a flashlight, I was lost.
There was no path that we could find and the coldness of the night was
settling in on all of us who were terribly unprepared.
Our
fun outing turned to desperation. So
we all gathered together in a circle and prayed genuine prayers to our God for
help and guidance. Then, we all
joined hands and began to move upward along what we thought was a pathway.
It led dangerously close to some cliffs, so we move inland, singing
praises to God as we went. Songs of praise burst from your mouth when you feel in
trouble, and we all did. There
seemed to be no way out of our problem. Then,
on top of that, my little hand held electric torch started to dim. Now, only the
nearest ground in front of my feet was visible.
It
was time to pray in earnest. We
clustered ourselves in a tight circle to allow the collective heat to warm the
most chilled. Times like this make
even teenagers think about their life and God.
We put our trust in Him together, hoping that He would hear our prayers.
Shortly
after sealing our prayers with a song of praise, we heard a distant thumping
noise and the breaking of a twig. We
all sat silent. Every sound in cold
darkness is potentially sinister. It
is amazing how one’s imagination can paint so many pictures in the mind in
such a short space of time. Lions,
and tigers and bears, oh my. Then,
off in the distance a small light appeared.
It was followed by a voice shouting out for us.
We were found. The man with
the lantern was our friend who had been searching for us. What a welcomed sight. We
all shouted out our thanks and praise, joined hands once again and followed him
on the safe path back to camp.
This
scripture is so true. If you are
lost in life, but will take time to humble yourself in prayer or fasting and
prayer, He will show you the way to a safe place.
God has a path for you to walk on and He will send His Holy Spirit to
guide you. Even when it is
the darkest, you have the responsibilities of others and your own light is dim,
He is there. He will help.
Trust Him, He loves you and will take care of all of your need.