Lent 2023 Day 40

 Straight Paths.


Prov 3 v 5 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight".

Earlier in the week I bumped into a friend in Tesco, that I hadn't seen for a long time. We had a long chat catching up on lots of news and hearing about what all our kids were currently up to. As she has five, this took considerable time!
Since I last saw her, one of her sons has moved away to study in Aberdeen. I was encouraged to hear this as he has Aspergers and has always needed quite a lot of support. We agreed what a wonderful thing it was that he was managing to live away and experience greater independence. However, she was quick to clarify that his need of her is still strong. Her summary of how life pans out is that he is fine "if the road is straight, BUT if there is a bend in the road....." 

Without any need for more to be said, I knew the sort of things that a 'bend in the road' would mean for her son Michael. Without a breath I could imagine the frustration of being misunderstood, the sensory overload, the sudden out of kilter proprioception, the overwhelm that leaves a person floundering in need of some sort of rescue. I knew it because like her,  I have been a rescuer many times over.
Our conversation moved on and eventually we went our separate ways, (probably to the relief of the mobile phone sales team whose space we were partially blocking with our trolleys!).
Later in the day I sat down to read my bible. One of the verses in my devotional was Proverbs 3 v 5. It was one of those occasions where the words seemed to jump off the page and land right in front of me.
"And he will make your paths straight". I immediately thought of Michael. But Lord, I know we can't ask for a life free from trouble, in fact you told us there would be many troubles. I can't ask for there to be no bends in his road?

This is not a new thought for me. I'm sure it isn't a new thought for you either. It's actually the age old heartache of allowed suffering alongside a loving God just wrapped up in a different scenario. But this thought rolled around in my head for the next couple of days. I've been asking God, what do you mean when you say that you will make our paths straight? What does it mean for Michael? What does it mean for me?
Sometimes if you still your heart and mind enough, a bubble of truth will rise to the surface, other times you wait and feel none the wiser. So, I'm not rushing to an answer. In fact the proverb specifies that we don't try to fathom it. Sometimes we just have to trust regardless. I'm not good at that.

Still asking God, my thoughts turned to another path. This time the path which Moses and the Israelites trod through the Red Sea. My Sunday school mind always imagined a smooth, sandy, (dry!) path. In reality it would have been rocky, perhaps dark, the sound of supernaturally withheld waters maybe deafening. And an army intent on murder following close behind.  When I take time to imagine it - what happened was actually quite terrifying.
Yet it was the path God made for them to deliver them from their enemies and bring them to safety.




I'm sure God wanted me to pray for Michael that day. He wanted me to ask him to make his paths straight. He didn't want me to work out how or why he would do it, he just wanted me to ask.

So, my hearts understanding of the proverb verse so far...
"Trust in the Lord with all of my heart. (Not my brain, not overthinking, not trying to understand it), but in bringing him in to every part of my life, he will make a straight path, which may not be easy, but will lead me to safety".

His straight path will lead us to Him, to our true Rescuer.

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