A popular scene in television programs and movies, is of the main character standing at a crossroads; they have to make a choice and decide which path to take.
It’s not only popular in fiction but for many of us as well. We all come to a time in our lives where we feel like we are standing at the crossroads. One path might look foreboding and dark with an uneven path full of cracks and rocks. The light only seems to show so much and then no further. Meanwhile the other path is smooth, straight and full of sunlight as it goes along meadows of flower.
By this description alone, we might think to take the sunlit, straight path; who wants to walk only so far before the path is illumined? Why take steps that are uneven and which could cause us to trip and fall? However, there are times when the decision we come to, isn’t the easy one. It might mean great loss and grave consequences, an uneasy season riddled with trials.
However, there are times when the Christian has to come to this conclusion: because God asks them to. We might all look at current world situation: with an ongoing pandemic, loss of life, shootings, riots, and natural disasters and think ‘this is enough, what other storm do I need?’ There are seasons when it seems like one trial after another and we wonder if it will ever end! Unfortunately, there are many that a Christ-follower may have to undergo, because they are living for Jesus. Often He warned the apostles of coming hardship: if the people would persecute their master, why wouldn’t they His followers? (John 15:20) If our Lord and Saviour had to go through hardship, why should we escape?
While this may not give us much encouragement, it’s important to remember that this life is only a ‘blink’ in eternity. The Christian has hope; because ahead of this life, is Heaven. A life of peace, joy, fellowship and without sin in the presence of the King. At a conference a few years ago a woman took a ball of yarn and, holding on to the end of it, threw it on the ground. She held the end piece between her fingers and showed us saying ‘this is now’ and indicating the rest of the yarn she said ‘that is eternity’.
Too easily we forget that this short life is just that. There is so much more to come! An awesome reminder is that we don’t walk through this life alone because God is with us:
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence:
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
Christians also belong to a wider family; the church. Fellow Christ-followers belong to the family of God and when it may seem like we are alone, God brings other Christians into our lives to walk with us through the valleys and on the mountain tops. In every season, may we take comfort, and be encouraged!
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. HEBREWS 12:2