Walking the new path

Perhaps throughout the last few days, you have sensed the Spirit of God showing you a new, unfamiliar, untraversed path in your thinking that He is beckoning you take. He knows the path(s) of freedom for you, and He is saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)

If you’ve ever tried walking through a tall field of grass (or even a few feet of fresh-fallen snow!) then you know that the first couple of times you walk through it are the hardest. It can be frustrating and tiring to attempt to lay down a new path. One step can take more energy than five steps on a packed surface. You’re apt to get scratches on your legs and become covered in bugs. So if you have the choice between an existing path or trudging through the thickets to create a new one, you’re likely to just take the existing one. Unless there’s something special enough to make it worth plodding through the brush- like a beautiful view or some tasty fruit from an untouched tree or bush!

Taking those first few steps to create a new path in your mind can seem daunting. It can be easy to wonder if it really will make a difference and lead you to a different place. All you can see ahead is tall grass and you are unable to see the destination. But the destination really can be more wonderful than we imagine. God called Abraham (then, called Abram) to set out for a new land He would give him and his descendants, but Abraham had no idea where he was going – I’m sure that wasn’t an easy journey to begin, but the promise of what lay ahead was well worth it. This was the journey on which God gave him a new name and began to make him a “great nation.” This was the journey on which God’s people would find their homeland.

It’s also like this with our thinking– God wants to bring us to a new place. What has He been showing you this week? Imagine yourself filled with more of His Spirit, living in more freedom, more intimacy with God. I have trouble believing it in the moment or feel some kind of resistance, remember– this is just the tall grass, and you’re starting to make a path – keep going! It will get easier! He will bring you to the most worthwhile destination. Let Him continue to “transform you by the renewing of your mind.”

Prayer: Lord, we are yours! Thank you for the ways you want to make us new, more like you, more filled with your Spirit and love – come and do this in us, in the name of Jesus. Let the incredible hope and joy of knowing You, of being Yours, and of being remade in you shine irresistibly in front of us as a beacon. Draw us on, past any resistance or doubt, as we make a new path to the place you are bringing us. Thank you Lord.