The Path to Take

Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth.
Proverbs 3:5-6

 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.
“The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost

Joel’s command to return to God to the exclusion of worldly concerns struck me on Ash Wednesday. After having the people summon a gathering, instructing them to do so “with fasting, weeping, and mourning”. He also instructs the people to gather, everyone, with the common goal of an outward display of very private searching.

We celebrate communally, but discern privately. Our prayer for guidance and God’s mercy and tenderness is our own.

There are temptations, interruptions, intrusions all day long. Our “temporal” duties easily invade our prayer space. There are so many duties to perform. So many decisions to make, so many times we must decide what path to take.

I consider the decision on a hopeful and fruitful path a decision to be made in prayer.

What path to take.

I’m afraid of making the wrong decision.

I’ve gone astray so many times.

Lord, you can’t make me take the path to follow You. Allow me the judgement to make as good a choice as is humanly possible for me, so I continue to live my goal to return to You, with all my heart.