Straight Paths

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

This has long been a favorite Bible passage of mine--maybe you're familiar with it, too?  I found myself thinking about this promise on my walk the other day.  You see, I've been on the lookout for straight paths in my life (begging God for straight paths is more like it), so I was repeating these verses in my head over and over, praying them, claiming the promise, {watching my feet}, when I looked up.  The road I was walking along is straight, but I couldn't see very far ahead because there was a tree hanging over the road obstructing my view and I was coming up to a hill.  You know how when you're driving (or biking or walking) along, and you're coming up to a hill, you can see to the top of the hill, but not what's beyond it?

It struck me then, that God doesn't promise to make our path easy.  God doesn't promise to make our path smooth.  God doesn't promise clarity.  God doesn't promise to show us all of the places our path will take us.  God promises to make our path straight.

When I am walking along on my path in life, I don't know where it will lead--I can't see the future--but I do know that if I trust God, and submit to God in everything, my path will be straight.  Sometimes my path will lead straight up a mountain--a challenge or hardship.  Sometimes my path will be smooth and easy.  And at some point I'll probably fall into a pothole along my path.  But no matter where my path leads, or what my path leads me through, I know that God directs me, and my path will be amazing.