Sunday the message was on Perspective.
I remembered this story early this morning and it really got me thinking.
When I was younger I went with some girls from my class on a trip to celebrate a couple birthdays. We had a great sleepover in a little house near some hot springs. The trip was winding up and we headed outside to enjoy some fresh (extremely misty) air in the cool morning. Once outside we thought we might as well go for a hike in the woods near the house and explore. One girl said there was a neat bridge she knew how to get to. Someone else said it was a different direction. We broke up into two groups and just explored. We didn't know the area that well but couldn't think of anything bad that would happen. (Yes, we were young.) Well, I was following (as usual) and having a great time just being part of the group and hearing the sound of a river and seeing all the nature around us. It was very calming. We walk and climbed a little. We could hear the other group near us as voices carried very well. The mist was there and we felt the moisture as we breathed in but our vision was clear enough to keep walking and not be afraid, at least by our perspective.
I remember the ground had a little give but in my mind I thought it was just because of the moisture and it being muddy. The "grass" was less grass like but I didn't place it at first. There were places with longer grass than others and the tree roots were thick under our feet. We were traipsing along with sure footing.
UNTIL... we came to a place where the mist was clearer and we realized there were holes all around us, opening up like windows in the floor under our feet. Literally we could look down through a "hole" and see air, tree branches, and the ground far below us. We were literally walking on AIR about 10 feet off the ground! The trees had grown so thick in this area that the branches were all entangled. Moss covered the bramble and grass had even begun to grow. When this realization struck us I was suddenly full of fear. My steps became timid and tested. I felt like one of us would fall through at any moment. My perspective was instantly changed. Of course that is the moment we heard my friends mom yelling for us to come back to the house. I stood there clinging to the tree nearest me while my friends were trying to figure out which way would be best to get down. We could climb down the tree we were currently in, or we could try to walk back the way we had came and "hope" we didn't forget and end up on less sturdy footing. Now if I stood there frozen in fear I would have never gone ANYWHERE. I had to overcome fear of falling and fear of making a mistake. I had to overcome the shock to move on. If my memory serves me correctly I think we headed back the way we had come and found an area with an easier climbing tree to actually climb down from. All I remember is Mrs. R calling for us all to get back to the house so we could go home!
This story could be applied a couple ways. The way that applies most to me is that sometimes we feel so secure and safe in our path. We have our plans laid out and we KNOW we are going to be okay. We have financial security in a job that seems like it isn't going to come out from under us. We have our home and our health. We see a "ten-year-plan" and feel like it is all going to be okay. And then the boss calls us in and says due to the economy he has to let us go, or because "growth" doesn't seem to be happening, or because of ___________ (fill in the blank) we just can't keep going in the direction we thought we were. Or our health or the health of someone we love is suddenly and drastically deteriorating before our eyes. Our ten-year-plan just got shot down to 6 months to 2-years if we are lucky and prayers that an invasive and/or expensive procedure MAY extend that time. I can only imagine that perspective changes in those moments.
What is interesting to me is that our plans are based on OUR perspective. We feel we know what to do. We pray about it and even "wait" on the Lord, but in the end we still make the plans. God doesn't let us see the big picture plan. He reveals each piece to us, one at a time. We can walk along in our plans with our eyes focused on the future and goals, but God might have a window open up in our floor to show us that he has a totally different direction in mind for us! Maybe there is a safer, stronger and more solid path running underneath us that is SO much better. Maybe it leads in the same general direction we are headed just a different way of getting there. Maybe it will take us a TOTALLY different place where an even better ending will be had.
I am not saying there is ANYTHING wrong with making and setting life goals. Goals keep us moving forward. They keep us trying and striving to do better and accomplish something in this short existence that we call life. But we have to remember that our goals are just that: OUR goals. God has a very different perspective. We have to trust Him and His timing to be the ultimate perfection for our lives. So when the floor opens up under us and we are feeling unsteady and shaky (or if we just plain fall through the ground!) remember and KNOW that God is never mistaken and He is the ULTIMATE of wisdom!
Make our plans and set our goals leaning and trusting on the Lord, BUT do not hesitate to turn around, or shift our ground in order to follow the path He lays before us. Sometimes there is so much better out there for us than OUR goals could ever accomplish. Sometimes there is a much deeper perspective to look at then the one direction we are facing in the misty blindness that surrounds us.
