Monday, July 16, 2012

The sunny side of the street

A couple of years ago, I was walking back home from an errand. It was autumn, and the weather was slightly chilly. I reached a certain street, and intended to cross the road to the other side, when suddenly; a large truck pulled over, right in front of my eyes, and parked exactly where I was intending to cross. I was a bit annoyed at the sudden obstacle, and continued to walk on the side of the street I was on, without crossing. After some moments I noticed that my walk was very pleasant. I looked around and realized that I was walking on the sunny side of the street, and that the other side – the one I wanted to reach – was shaded. Had I crossed over, I would have walked without enjoying the gentle warmth of the sun…
I thought to myself how wonderful my Lord and shepherd is. For all I know, he may have been trying to tell me a few times, “Stay on this side of the road…” but I was too busy with my own thoughts and didn’t hear him, so he placed a large truck in my path, which certainly caught my attention, and made me walk the better path…
I learned something very important that day: Sometimes, what we consider obstacles, aren’t really obstacles at all…
Sometimes we want to do something, or go somewhere, but God knows that it is not the best thing for us. He tries to tell us in many ways, but very often we either don’t hear, or don’t listen… So he nudges us a little by placing an obstacle which forces us onto another path…
The Lord is our shepherd, and just as a shepherd will not let his flock walk wherever they wish to walk, but rather clears a path for them, and then leads them on that straight and safe path, so does God; and when he finds that we are walking away from that straight and safe path, he leads us, by words, if possible, or by action, when we don’t hear.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want

So when you struggle with an obstacle – a job you can’t get, a place you can’t go to, etc. etc – and you keep praying and begging God to help you overcome it, and yet you get no answer; maybe it’s time you observed this obstacle – perhaps it is there for another reason… perhaps you are actually supposed to walk around it…
May God give us all the wisdom to recognize which obstacle is there against and which for us…
My suggestion – always let the Good Shepherd lead!
Stay blessed and stay tuned,

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