A Clearer Path

A Clearer Path

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬ NASB)

The wife and mother of a sweet family stopped by yesterday evening. They are friends that go to our church. She brought a basket of gifts for our family; something addressed to each one of us. The thing that blessed me most about this visit was the thoughtfulness behind the gifts. Each gift had purpose and intention behind it and I see it all as a gift from God. My gift was three-fold, and I have used all three this morning. One, a coffee mug with the precious word trust written across the back, and Psalm 91:2 on the front (opposite of that if you drank your coffee left handed 😉). Two, a half pound of Mahogany dark roast coffee from Caribou. The bag reminds me life is short, I am suppose to stay awake for it. It also tells me that the coffee would taste best if it were brewed before June of 2016. I figured I would get to it now as oppose to wait to check the truthfulness of the statement. The third gift is a journal. It’s brown, rugged looking, and has the words amazing grace written across the front (it wouldn’t be the back if you were left handed 😉). I have never been given the gift of a journal before. I was actually surprised to see that there was a different Bible verse typed at the bottom of each page. I am assuming the verse is meant to be the source of my meditation and journaling for the day; kind of cool. I opened up the first page to see Proverbs 4:18. I held my pen in hand and hovered it above the first blank line, pondered a moment and decided to make an electronic folder in Byword (a markdown editor I use for blogging and writing) called Amazing Grace Journal, and keep my thoughts in there instead of on paper. It’s just so hard to go technologically backwards sometimes 😊.

So, looking at the verse, it is clearly talking about a path. This path is walked down by the righteous. Romans 3:10 tells me that there is none righteous, not even one. So this path has never had human footsteps placed upon it. Wait, there was Jesus is the Righteous One. He had human footsteps. Yes, this path was walked down by him. The path began as a dimly lit shadow. It’s so hard to see a path in the woods before the sun comes up. But as soon as the light begins to peek up over the horizon, the path becomes faintly visible. As the day moves forward, the once dim path becomes clearer and clearer until noon.

If you are screaming at your computer screen, I am aware that the righteous is a phrase the Bible often uses to speak of Christians. It is not as if Christians are righteous in and of themselves, but that they alone are the ones trusting in The Righteous One JESUS. So this path has been, and is currently being walked down my many a human footsteps. It is the path that I am on, and am leading my family down. I am following the One who has walked before me and paved the way. He is making the path clearer and clearer as the days move forward. Why does it seem as though the path becomes darker during trials? Is it because the path is darker? No, because that would deny this verse. It must be because my eyes either become cloudy or closed. The problem then is with my vision and not the path. What then is the solution? I must get my eyes examined again. Let’s read across the eye chart to see if I can read the letters. Where is this chart? Oh, the chart is found in the words of Scripture? Yes. So when I go there and read across the line of Proverbs 4:18 it tells me that the path becomes clearer and clearer until heaven (noon). I take this truth into my mind and heart through my eyes that were cloudy and begin to see with perscripted vision again.

Is this journaling? Blogging? Maybe a little of both?

Blessings,
Scott

P.S. We are meeting with our midwife today for the first time since the news of Mercy’s trisomy 13. Please keep Karie in your prayers as she is fighting back anxiety–thanks.