Which Way?

"If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking."

Tomorrow morning I am running a marathon in countryside that many people would consider to be the "middle of nowhere."  We start and finish in the town of Kayenta, AZ, but we run in the countryside west and north of town, a countryside that is largely dry and barren. 

This will be my fourth time running here. The first year I was so far behind the runner in front of me that I got to a road crossing and wasn't sure which direction to go.  I saw some footprints in the dirt and turned in the same direction, which eventually proved to be correct. I could just as easily have "kept walking", or in my case running, in the wrong direction.

I understand that this year they have altered the marathon course somewhat, so that we take a slightly different route back into town.  In the past it was go out 13.1 miles, then turn and come back along the same route.  Tomorrow when we reach the distant point we will turn-around, and as we come back towards town will turn again, and take a different way back.  It could be an improvement to the marathon, but until I run it I have a bit of apprehension, as it could be a new way to get off course.  "If we are facing in the right direction" presumes that we already know which direction is right.  That can be a pretty significant "if."

But that opening quote, which I saw without any known author on a friend's Facebook page, has particular importance when it is applied to the direction of our lives.  How often have you traveled through life on a path that was leading in the wrong direction?  I know that I have, many times and for many years.

Jesus, preaching in the Sermon on the Mount, has something to say about finding the right direction.  In Matthew 7:13-14, he says:

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

In life, the right direction is the one that leads in the direction of Jesus. 

Life in the 21st century, and I imagine in every century previous, has many challenges. Hardship, wrong choices, illness, accidents, broken families…the list of things a person may struggle with could be virtually endless.  And life in each era also offers many ways to find peace, calm, even hope in those challenges.  But unless we are looking for hope first in Jesus, we won't find anything that truly brings peace to our hearts. Some of those things may look good, they may satisfy us for a while, but they will not last.  They cannot endure.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah said:

"The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever."

And the word of God, from Genesis through Revelation, teaches that the only right direction is the one that leads to Jesus.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.