Ok! A fork in the road, my parents didn’t tell me about this one when they gave me the directions. So which way do I go? This is the first time I’ve been out on my own. Still, I can guess the direction they would take. They are so stuck in their beliefs they are always predictable. I’ve gone their way my entire life. Yet, I am beginning to wonder if these were always the best choice. My buddy Jonesy told me taking the other fork passed through lots of fun places—sites like I’d never seen. So what do I do? Keep going the way my parent’s would choose or decide my own route for a change.
We’ve all travelled down this road and came to a fork at some point in our life. Our mom and dad took us to their church, taught us their rules, and gave us their advice about the challenges we would face in our future. As a kid, life worked like this. But then comes that day when maybe we’ve been away at college for a while, or we joined the military, or just moved out on our own, that we began sensing a bit of personal liberty. We ate the food we like, even skipped the vegetables, and still woke up healthy. We developed friendships without our parent’s approval and no harm came. We chose the church we attended or maybe chose not to attend and no lightning bolts fell from heaven.
Slowly the bond of our upbringing began loosening its grip. We heard new teachings in the classroom. Our new friends lived a life nothing like ours. Convincing witnesses shared how much fun certain activities were, even though we knew our parents would object and label them sinful. Suddenly, we faced insurmountable temptations, as we never felt before. We encountered our first fork in the road.
All children come to this fork in the road and must begin making their own decisions. The world will challenge every young adult’s belief system. For their entire life, their parents told them what to believe but now they must decide for themselves what they believe. As parents, we can only hope we laid an adequate foundation and they make the right choices when they approach their first fork. Yet, despite our best efforts, some decide they will try the other route. Thankfully, many quickly realize this way is not the one on which they want to continue. They make a U-turn back to the direction their parents gave. What they believe now becomes, ‘their belief’, and they are no longer merely trying to please mom and dad.
Christian parents become fearful when their children take the wrong fork and it appears they will never make that U-turn. They may encounter wrecks, incur injuries, and experience great pain that can come on this route. Then we must rest in the promise that God did not abandon them at the fork. He continues with them, tugging at their hearts. We can only pray that like the prodigal son, they come to their senses. He realized the path he had taken led to a dead end, but he knew the direction towards home to his father and to the Father.
For me, I choose the other fork in the road, however I encountered no harm and found material success, which only confirmed to me or at least I thought so, that I made the correct choice. I possessed everything I ever wanted. Yet, after years of heading this direction, something was still missing. A deep emptiness filled my heart. Then I came to my senses and realized this emptiness was a place only God could fill. I knew I would find completeness by returning and taking the other fork. I recommitted my life to Jesus. Immediately, He gave me a peace not as the world gives . . . which surpasses all comprehension (John 14:27, Phil 4:7). Now I possessed all I wanted with God filling the emptiness.
Understand that choosing the right route does not eliminate forks in the road. Life is composed of unending forks. Also, we will encounter times when the journey passes through desert places with no visible roads. Then we must rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth (John 16:13). As a hunter, I’ve experienced occasions in a large track of woods when I became disoriented. I relied on my experience and the knowledge I learned of how to determine direction, walk in a straight line, and find my way. Now when my wife and I go through desert places, we remind each other, we’ve been through this wilderness before. We remember the lessons we learned and the scriptures that kept us going in the right direction. We also know Jesus the Great Shepherd has our hand and will guide us safely across.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Parents, your wayward children are not alone. God is with them. All who are facing a fork in the road or maybe journeying in the desert, let the Lord take your hand. He knows the way.