The Guide

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)