A Fork in the Road

 I do not recall the poet who wrote the poem about taking the path less traveled, but that has always stuck with me. God has led my family down some windy paths that others did not understand. Frankly, I did not understand some of them either. We followed faithfully where we discerned He was guiding us. 

Discerning the will of God is not an exact science. Sometimes decisions have to be made when we come to a fork in the road. We pray whether we should travel down the well beaten path others have traversed ahead of us, or take the road less traveled. A decision has to be made. We may pray, read scripture, and even fast to determine which direction to go and the answer still not be certain. 

The disciples faced such a situation in Acts 1. After Judas betrayed Jesus and then killed himself, another disciple needed to be chosen to replace Judas. They prayed. Then they did something very curious. They had two men. Joseph and Matthias. They faced a fork in the road. Who was the right person to choose?What did they do to decide? They cast lots. Can you believe that? They drew lots to determine who would become the twelfth disciple. God worked through that method to reveal what He wanted. I do not see people using that method to choose God's will these days. 

God works in mysterious ways to reveal His will and His purposes. He can do so through a scripture, a song, through another person, through random circumstances, and various other ways that cannot be predicted. He did that for Paul when facing a fork in the road about a direction in ministry. He planned to go Asia, but the Holy Spirit forbid him to do so. He tried to go to Bithynia and once again the Holy Spirit closed the door. In the middle of the night Paul had a dream. The scripture say in Acts 16:9-10 it was a vision of man from Macedonia calling for help. The next day, Paul concluded God wanted them to go to Macedonia. God revealed His will through a visionary dream. Would that be enough for any of us to determine which course to take?

God can reveal His will anyway He wants. Through drawing lots, through angels, through a burning bush, a donkey, a prophetic message, a dream, and of course through His word. The ways of God cannot be formulated. He is too personal for that, too creative, too genius, and too mysterious to ever be figured out. The only way to truly know which path to take when you face a fork in the road is stay in close communion with Him daily. He will reveal His plan and ways when He is ready and how He is ready to do so. May we all keep seeking and listening. He will guide us and sometimes He may lead us down the road less traveled.