“This Way” (10/10/2023)

Yesterday, I took off on an errand to buy yarn while it was on sale. I headed to a shop in Watertown, 14 miles away. I decided to take the interstate because it would be faster. And it would have been had I not gotten distracted and blown right past my exit. I had to go another 9 miles to the next exit, exit and then re-enter going the opposite direction. A 14-mile journey turned into a 32-mile journey because I wasn’t paying attention. I was upset with myself. And more than once yesterday I reminded myself, “You know the way, stay alert.”

Then last evening, as our Monday evening Faith Companions met for dinner and the reading of Isaiah, I was struck multiple times by the words of Isaiah concerning the LORD’s guidance. And then I got to Isaiah 30:21 – “While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” And I knew. And the LORD knew I knew. The LORD had thumped me and reminded me: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.”

I’m 73. I have studied scripture since I was 9. It’s not that I don’t know. It’s that I am guilty at times of setting what I know to the side as if it’s a book I will get back to but for the time being I’ll do something else. The LORD reminded me yesterday through a missed exit, extra miles, and a wonderful passage from Isaiah that there is nothing of worth greater than my relationship with the LORD. And the LORD also reminded me to stay alert because life here on earth has a way of distracting us.

Last evening, as I prayed on my porch before bed, I acknowledged my lack of focus and asked for help, for the grace of the Spirit to keep me on the path. I also prayed that the Spirit would improve my spiritual hearing so I could hear the LORD more clearly. Then I sat for a while and pondered Isaiah 30: “a voice shall sound in your ears: ‘This is the way, walk in it.’”

Our LORD is with us. Our LORD offers us guidance and direction. “This is the way, walk in it.” We have the Gospels and Jesus’ teachings. We have His example. We have the writings of Paul who call us to follow Christ, to finish the race – in other words, to keep on track, focused. We had a saying when I was growing up, “the LORD thumped me.” Basically, it meant that something we knew, we’d strayed from, and the LORD was getting our attention and saying, “not that way, this way.” It’s an expression of conversion. And yesterday I realized anew that conversion to Christ isn’t a one and done feat but a lifelong journey with multiple turns caused by my own weaknesses.

This day, may we who seek to follow Christ as His disciples on “the Way” stay focused on Him whom we profess to be following. Let us have open ears, minds and hearts so that we might hear and act. And may our memories serve us along the way, remembering what we know, not getting distracted, staying the course.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.