The Crossroads
Proverbs 16:1-4
We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer.
People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives.
Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.
The Lord has made everything for his own purposes, even the wicked for a day of disaster.
Robert Frost famously wrote a poem about two roads diverging in a yellow wood. I think we've all experienced that crossroads in our lives multiple times... relationally, socially, professionally, spiritually. In the effort to be transparent, I've found myself at a similar crossroads. I'm preparing to watch my third little bird leave the nest for college in the fall, and my business is also experience an intersection between small business and a company expanding our territory. We're there... we're poised for great growth, but the tipping point is hard.
I love what Pastor Matthew Barnett says, "The urge to quit is strongest just before breakthroughs occur. Those are the times when it's most important to stay focused and committed. You will encounter the urge to quit many times. Get over it. Quitting is not an option; always be prepared to give it one more day."
I don't know what crossroads you're facing, but I do know this: Our God is mighty to save, and He is a Romans 8:28 God who works ALL things for the good of those who love Him. God did not bring you this far to let you down. It's something I'm preaching to myself when the anxiety feels overwhelming, or when I question which direction to move toward. I'm thankful for the Scriptures that point me clearly to God's heart... where I will always find the intersection of passion and purpose.
Precious Lord, we come before you today and commit all that we are doing personally and professionally. Examine each of our hearts. Purify our motives. We commit all that we are and all that we want to do and plan to do into Your hands. We release all that we are doing and planning into your hands. We want to be a light – we want others to see Jesus living in and through each one of us. Guide our steps, our words and our actions. We give you the glory for everything.
"The Road Not Taken"
Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.