The Path of Life

This morning's devotion was taken from Psalm 16:11, but it was the first phrase of the verse that caught my attention: "You reveal the path of life to me . . ." Most of us probably envision a path as being obvious, even if it's a narrow one.

But what about a path that is indistinct? It is unsettling, to say the least, when I'm not sure that my present path is God's path of life for me. Even worse is the absence of an obvious path.

Jean-Pierre de Caussade, an 18th-Century priest, wrote:

"There is no more safe and sure way that the unlit path of faith . . . you cannot lose the way where there is no path. Every way looks the same in the dark . . ."

The God of light sometimes leads us through dark places. We can't see the ground, much less a path that winds out in front of us. At times we're not sure we can even hear his voice. All we may have is a quiet sense of his presence.

This is where our faith is tested and refined. In the dark, pathless places of life . . .

The simplistic open-door/closed-door method of knowing God's will is moot. The handy formulas and pithy one-liners of cultural religiosity fall short. And total, moment-by-moment dependency upon God becomes our lifestyle.

Caussade refers to this place as safe and sure. Not all the places through which our Father leads us are bright and cheerful. Some are dark and filled with uncertainty. But even when we cannot see it, the path we walk leads to Life.