paths

The Road Less Traveled

By Robert Frost

 Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Every person's life follows a path. Sometimes, we come to forks in the road and agonize over which new path to take. The Lord allows us to make these decisions because He wants us to use our free will to choose Him. Sometimes, when we can't see far enough down the road, it's hard to know if we're choosing the right path. In order to keep going forward though, a decision has to be made.

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

We make the best decision we know to make, and then we notice, sometimes with envy, that the path someone else's life is taking looks so much smoother. I don't know why this is - why there are those whose paths are rocky and uphill with storms every day, while others have a shady, paved road with only the occasional rain shower. I don't know why God requires different battles for different people, why He answers some prayers right away and asks others to remain in the waiting room. All I know is that His will is perfect, and there's a reason your path is bumpier - or smoother - than others.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

The past is a hard thing to overcome. Whether you have a good past, or a bad past, it's difficult to let go and move away from. As doors close in our lives, some of them will never re-open. And sometimes, it feels like door after door closes in front of you and while you're praising God in the "hallway", that hallway keeps getting longer and longer.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Our roads will have pain along the way. Sometimes, it'll feel drawn out and never ending, but keep traveling the path God has put you on - as tempting as the smooth way looks, the reward at the end is not as great. In God's system, the least shall become the greatest, so don't judge someone's path that seems smoother than yours - God has a different plan for them. Bloom where you're planted, and trust that the desires of your heart may be just far enough around the bend that you can't see them yet.

"And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great." -Luke 9:47-48

"I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does."

 - L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables