If history is any indication, we don’t always function well when given the gift of choice. Eve failed miserably in the Garden of Eden, as have each one of us born with her blood coursing through our veins. Choice offers us the blessing of free will and the curse of its consequences. Not all of our choices look like a fork in the road. Very few will point in the direction of Good Path or Bad Path. Often times, the path meanders a bit here and changes a bit there, and we have no idea what the outcome will be until the path’s end rises up to meet us at a distance.
While I believe our steps are ordered and God cares deeply about our choices, I also believe He gives us a great deal of freedom in making them. Unless we hear a clear Yes or No, we’re free to choose whichever path we like. We don’t worship a dictator, we worship a dad—an Abba. As a parent, I look to His example and recognize the importance of allowing my children to learn how to make their own decisions. My job is to guide them, to correct them when they step out-of-bounds, and help them walk in wisdom. It is not to make all of their decisions for them.
God gives us one wonderful, wild, vapor in the wind life. You and I can walk down one path, choose another, backtrack, turnaround, run for cover, and start again. We co-create our journey with Him. Some of the most fruitful times of my life were those in which I felt the freedom to choose my path and I chose it poorly. I chose a nursing career over a one with words. I left London, city of my heart, to move to Strip Mall City, New Jersey. (If you don’t know what I mean by strip mall, consider yourself blessed. It is the death of all things beautiful and cultured.) Both sad decisions, both some of the weirdest, most interesting, and blessed seasons of my life. They teach me not to live in regret over the paths I should’ve, would’ve, could’ve chosen. Regret turns our eyes in the wrong direction and steals from the joy of this present path.
If your past path looks like sin, and none of us can deny plenty of them do, repent and choose a better one. If it looks like a poor choice, seek out the gold threaded through the rocky terrain. If it’s a good path, then by all means stay on it, with your eyes fixed forward and your feet prepared for any turns along the way.
How do you feel about co-creating this journey? Do you agree? What choices are you facing right now?
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