Every now and then our boys look at
old photos of us on our travels, intrigued that they're not in the
picture, asking questions about where we were and what we did, almost
disbelieving that their parents could once have enjoyed life in such
a way without them being there - I guess all kids have trouble
imagining their parents as just people who once didn't have kids.
The travel guides that we used to
explore places like New Zealand and Canada, still sit on a bookshelf
and although much of the information they contain is now probably
obsolete, they are still a reminder of the adventures that we had a
long time ago or so it feels. Studying the pages of those guides
helped us make decisions about the routes we needed to take, the best
sights to see, the places to stay and the dangers to avoid. These
days it's all about Google maps and making sure your smart phone has
full battery power at all times but pre-4G (prehistoric I know), the
old fashioned printed travel guide was what kept us right. The travel
journalists had gone ahead of us and lived the experience already.
As I write this, I'm on the other
side of a hospital appointment which had filled me with dread and as
I waited in anxious anticipation, I read the chapter in Lord of the
Rings which tells the story of the company of the ring making their
way through the Mines of Moria.
To the left
of the great arch they found a stone door: it was half closed, but
swung back easily to a gentle thrust. Beyond there seemed to lie a
wide chamber cut in the rock.
`Steady!
Steady! ' cried Gandalf as Merry and Pippin pushed forward, glad to
find a place where they could rest with at least more feeling of
shelter than in the open passage. `Steady! You do not know what is
inside yet. I will go first.'
He went in
cautiously, and the others filed behind. `There! ' he said, pointing
with his staff to the middle of the floor. Before his feet they saw a
large round hole like the mouth of a well. Broken and rusty chains
lay at the edge and trailed down into the black pit. Fragments of
stone lay near.
'One
of you might have fallen in and still be wondering when you were
going to strike the bottom,' said Aragorn to Merry. 'Let
the guide go first while you have one.'
These words really struck me. The
idea that something lies ahead of me which is dark and unknown but I
have a guide. If Jesus goes ahead of me, he will see the dangers
first, shine light on the hidden hazards that could easily trip me up
and throw me into a black pit.
Anxiety and worry are old rusty
chains which are always in the way, always a snare and I inevitably
trip over them time and time again but on this occasion, these words
made me stop and think. I imagined Jesus in a hospital. He walked
through the door of a consulting room, he heard the doctors words and
he experienced my appointment before I got there.
Psalm 32:8
The
Lord says, 'I will guide
you along the best pathway for
your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.'
Whatever
was to happen at that appointment and whatever the outcome was to be,
Jesus already knew what it was and his best pathway for me led right
through the middle of the consulting room. He had already gone ahead
of me and this truth made a difference.
Deuteronomy
31:8
Do not be afraid or
discouraged, for the
Lord will
personally
go ahead of you.
He will be with you; he will neither fail you or abandon you.
I was still nervous when the time
came for me to sit in the waiting area. I still felt apprehensive but
I also trusted my guide, knowing that he was with me. Future and
present in his hands. He goes ahead of me and he is also with me.
My
praying friends lifted me into his care and the answer I received
that day was so much better than I had anticipated. I walked out of
the hospital delighted with the conclusion of that particular episode
and I give thanks for the blessing of good health but I also learnt
to say the words of the Psalmist, 'I
will bless the Lord who guides me'
Psalm 16:7.
I hope and pray that I will
continually learn how to trust my guide no matter what happens in
life and no matter what the outcome is, good or bad. There are going
to be days when I may struggle to say those words of blessing. I
struggle now to understand how some pathways could possibly be the
best ones but on I walk and God works as I put one foot in front of
the other.
As for those guide books sitting on
the shelf, they may be outdated and they could go in a recycle bin
but I prefer to leave them where they are - reminders not only of
good times had but of best pathways ahead.
'Send forth your light and
your truth, let them guide me;
let them bring me to your
holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
Then will I go to the altar
of God,
to God, my joy and my
delight.'
Psalm 43:3
(NLT)
