Staying the Course

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

– Proverbs 3:5

The Christ-follower’s faith-journey is often compared to travel along an uneven, winding road or a perilous climb up a craggy mountainside. After all, we never know what’s around the bend or over the next hill. Our vision is limited. And it’s all too easy to lose our footing on the steep inclines and fall back a little — or maybe even a lot.

A good illustration involves Crabtree Falls — a popular destination in Virginia’s scenic Blue Ridge Mountains. Located about a half-hour’s drive past Charlottesville, visitors must complete a strenuous hike once they’ve parked their vehicle. But it’s well worth the effort because the view is spectacular.

Like our faith-journey, the narrow, rocky trail that leads to Crabtree Falls leaves little margin for error. There’s even a sign at the water’s edge that warns hikers to stick close to the path. But about 10 years ago, a college student died after slipping on the moss-covered rocks and falling 80 feet. Rather than staying the course and keeping his eyes on the marked trail, he decided to take an ill-advised detour. His way may have promised fun and adventure. Sadly, it delivered only tragedy.

“There is a way that appears to be right,” we’re warned through the book of Proverbs. “But in the end it leads to death.”

Scripture — like that sign posted near the waterfall — urges us to remain on the path that leads to the intended destination. But as obvious as that sounds, we all know that life’s problems, temptations, and tragedies seem to await us at every turn. The result is that we trip up after compromising our principles with the world’s values. It’s then that we fall, and later wonder why God permitted our mishap.

Rather than potholes, loose rocks, and hairpin turns, the dangers along our faith-journey include unemployment, broken relationships, missed credit card payments, and illness. Our task is therefore to focus on our Guide while remembering that we worship a God who’s much greater than our circumstances. He’s led us safely through the rough times before … and he can do so again today. It’s through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, that God has already defeated our greatest life-hazard: sin.

Is the pathway along your faith-journey getting too rough these days? If it’s not now, it will later. But let’s be encouraged by that famous rhetorical question from the apostle Paul: 

“If God is for us,” he asks, “who can be against us?”

The takeaway here is that we must closely follow Jesus’ lead to avoid life’s many detours and distractions. It’s by keeping our eyes on him and staying close by that we’ll safely reach the summit of our faith-journey. Rest assured, the trip will be unforgettable … and the view will be out of this world!