A Path No-one Knew Was There

linking with Five Minute Friday at katemotaung.com
Write for five minutes on a given prompt, which today is “path”

For a while now I’ve been praying for wisdom.  There’s a path I feel God has been calling me to, but I have been uncertain about how to get onto that path, or where it is going to lead.  (I apologise now that I am going to be annoyingly vague about the path I’m referring to.)

Over the last few weeks, I’m realising that sometimes God opens up the path in unexpected ways, as things have moved forward, but not in the direction I would have expected.

But then, God is an expert at opening up paths in the most unexpected places, even when it seems impossible- like the Israelites at the Red Sea:

“Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters- a pathway no-one knew was there!”  (Psalm 77:19)

Now it seems like the path is opening up in another unexpected direction.

I think it’s a path anyway… It could be a dead end, but there’s only one way to find out.

God opens up the path, but he sometimes asks us to step onto it first- to step out in faith without knowing how it is all going to work out.  At the Red Sea, Moses had to take action and raise his staff over the waters.  Later, when the Israelites were at the River Jordan, it was only as the priests stepped into the water that the river parted and the path appeared.

Sometimes we have to step out and see where the path will lead.

As I consider venturing out onto this path, this song encourages me to step out in faith:

“Speak, even if your voice is trembling,
Please, you’ve been quiet for so long.
Believe- it’ll be worth the risk you’re taking.
You’re afraid, but you can hear adventure calling.
There’s a rush of adrenaline to your bones.
What you make of this moment changes everything.

What if the path you choose becomes a road?
What if the ground you take becomes your home?”

On the subject of songs that inspire and encourage, I am planning a series for Write 31 Days in October, looking at how God speaks through songs and uses them to build our faith.

Over the 31 days, I am planning to share some of my own stories of songs that have impacted me, and also to share some of the background stories to songs being written, but I would love to share some of your stories too, of songs that God has used to speak to you, encourage you or comfort you in a particular situation.

If you have a song or hymn that has meant something special to you and you would like to share your story here, I would love to invite you to write a guest post for this series.  If you are interested, please send me an email at lifeinthespaciousplace@yahoo.com by Sunday 11th September letting me know which song you’d like to write about, and I will send you more details.  (You don’t have to have the post written by then, but I will be looking for them to be completed by the last week in September so that I can work out the best order for the series.)