Sometimes there’s a sign in the middle of your day, but most of us walk around too blind to see them.”
                     –James Leonard  (The Sun Never Sets)  

       “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
                    –Proverbs 3:25-26 (NIV)
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Interesting how the Lord works.  Yesterday I wrote about waiting, and how He often makes us wait, and wait, and wait.  This week I’ve been pondering the trail.  Not necessarily the trail to glory or the road to perdition, but the trail that each of us walk daily.  Somehow, as believers, that trail coincides with the gloryland trail.  Here’s the interesting part, not only have I been pondering the trail, there have been several hints dropped my way regarding the trail.  When that happens it is time to take heed.  Is something being said to me?
     There are so many things and analogies that can be made about the trail or journey of life.  This morning I’m going to point out a few of them to you–those things that have been working in my mind.  I recall the ol’ patriarch Abraham.  “Get up, get going, Abram!” said the word of the Lord.  “Where am I going?” came his quick reply.  “Don’t worry about that, just get going.  I’ll let you know when you get there,” comes the Lord’s response.  So often we want to see everything that the trail holds for us.  In all honesty, we really don’t.  I knew of a woman who was told “prophetically” that she was going to be in a car accident.  It scared her so much that she refused to leave her house.  Finally, a nearby pastor went to talk with her and convinced her not to worry about the road ahead, that the Lord is in charge.
     See, we don’t need to see every mile–only trust the One who built the trail, and walks alongside us.  That wonderful Proverb reminds us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (3:5-6, NIV)  We worry so much about the trail when we need to realize that the trail itself is neutral.  The trail cannot hurt or harm you.  However, in saying that, there are obstacles along the trail.  There are snares laid by the enemy as well as his hostile imps along the way.  There are roots, rocks, stumps, brush and brambles along the trail that must be encountered, but they themselves do nothing to harm you.  You may be clumsy, you may not be looking where you are walking, or you may have lost your focus on the journey.  Listen, get this down in your heart, the Lord is in control.  As J.I. Packer reminds us, “There are no accidents in the Christian life.”  
     Sometimes as we travel it seems as if we haven’t come very far.  That is the time to stop, take a breath and look back to see just how far you have come.  “Growth is silent and at the time imperceptible to our senses, though later it is evident.  Growth is gradual and full development is not reached in a day nor in a year.  There may be real progress even where there are fewer inward comforts.” (Arthur Pink)  God watches every step that we take.  He watches to see, first of all if we even attempt to take the step, then He watches how we handle this journey of life.  We certainly cannot tip-toe through life, for it at times is arduous.  Paul reminds us that we have to give account for each step we take, “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12, NIV)  
     Let me leave you to ponder with this last thought from Pappy Flynn that I read from Saddle Up Ministries.  It’s about excuses, and that there really aren’t any.  Flynn writes, “God never called His people to drift.  He calls us to stand, to own our steps, and to walk in truth.  Excuses build fences, responsibility builds futures.  When we take ownership of our lives, we make room for God’s power to move.  Some of you aren’t waiting on God to move…God’s been waiting on you to drop the excuses, stand up, and take responsibility for the life He already gave you.  Let’s be honest, some of you aren’t stuck, you’re committed to your excuses.  You can keep your excuses, or you can walk in your calling.”  
     The road is before you, get going!  Of course, watch where you step, but step you must.  Be wary of your surroundings, but keep going.  Be like Abraham of old and walk on until the Lord finally brings you to that holy city, that stopping point that He has been leading you to.  Trust in the Lord and in His guidance.  Make each and every day one to be dedicated to the Lord and one more day that brings you nearer to your destiny.

A feller gets good at waiting—at least he does, if he hopes to survive.”
                    –J.V. James  (Old As Old Boots)

       “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
                    –Psalm 27:14 (NIV)
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     “Give me patience, and give it to me now!”  Then we hear a little voice, “wait, wait, wait.”  The waiting gets to us.  For some reason, most of us do not like to wait, especially in our fast-paced world.  But, that seems to be the way the Lord works.  He’s never in a hurry, but we are.  We seem caught up in the old military adage, “Hurry up and wait.”  We get into the wrong line at the grocery–and wait.  We drive into the wrong lane at McDonalds–and wait.  We wait for our change to be counted out, a third time.  We pump gas–and wait, it seems the pump is working oh, so, slowly.  We go to our doctor’s appointment–and wait, and wait, and wait, and…
     I think of Caleb and Joshua.  They had to wait forty years because of stiff-necked, faint-hearted, and a lack-of-faith people.  Forty years of wandering, and I might add without complaining, for waiting brings the whining and complaining and murmuring out of us.  Forty years of manna and quail.  Forty years of dust and thirst.  But they took it all in stride as they walked waiting for the time when they would finally enter the Promised Land.  Speaking of the Promised Land, Moses spent forty years in the wilderness, then another forty years leading the people in that same rugged land, and, get this, he never did get to go into the Promised Land.  He led, waiting, hoping, but now he had to wait for the Messiah to appear to deliver from his waiting place of Sheol.  Of course, our minds go to Abraham–given the “Promise”–then having to wait.  The wait got to him, as it does to us much of the time, and he attempted to take shortcuts.  Never a good idea, and look at what it got him (and continues on through today).
     When we are forced to wait, discouragement can set in.  Frustration can grip us causing us to gripe; hope may wane.  If we are not careful we can wonder when the Lord will answer, and often that causes us to wander–wander off the narrow way to glory.  The great man of faith, Francis de Sales, tells us, “In all our spiritual dryness and barrenness let us never lose courage but, waiting with patience for the return of consolation, earnestly pursue our course.  Let us not omit any of our exercises of devotion, but if possible let us multiply our good works.”  When we wait, get our devotion and resolve.
     In other words, “keep on keeping on.”  Rest when needed, but don’t settle.  The journey is not over yet.  The true mark of constancy and fidelity is to continue to serve the Lord even as we wait. (de Sales)  Be a Caleb and Joshua.  Be constant and loyal as you wait for the coming of the Lord, or for the answer to your prayers (and that prayer must be in line with God’s Word, and His will–if not the wait might even be longer).  “Keep your Christian ideals alive in the human setting in which you find yourself.” (Edwin R. Chess)     

I worked as quickly as I could, but I did it right, and I was glad to have the work.”
                    –Mel Odom  (The Pecos Undertaker)

       “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”
                    –James 1:25 (NKJV)
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          “He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray.”  –Proverbs 10:17

     Someone has said it’s not an easy road, this road to heaven.  Let me tell you something else, “The righteous is on the way of life, but the wicked wander from it.” (NKJV Study Bible)  One of the most important things that you can do is walk a dedicated and disciplined life showing others the way.  No matter who you are, you have looked up to someone.  Who was it that walked the way and that you watched?  Along with that, no matter who you are, someone is watching you.  Walk properly, uprightly, steadfastly in the way of the Lord.  We do this in “the life of discipline; a life dedicated and consecrated to the ways and wisdom of God.” (Bob Beasley)
     I had a dog who loved the snow.  It was a little beagle who loved to play in the deep snow, however, it would soon flounder and could not get out of the deep drifts because it would get off the beaten path and I would have to go out and rescue her.  My wife tells of the times when in deep snow Pappy would go out ahead of them to make a path so they could walk down the hill to the bus.  Someone had to clear the way.  I ask, who helped clear the way for you?  I ask, who are you clearing the path for?  
    Watch the life of a good person, step in their steps.  Listen to their instruction.  John writes, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (13:17, NKJV)  This of course is speaking of the things of the Lord.  If we follow His instructions we can stay on the good path.  Charles Bridges gives us a warning, one that we should heed, “To be deaf to the voice that would save us from ruin, is a most fearful error.”  Obey the Word of the Lord and have life.  We have proper instruction, in fact it is “instruction that sets the way before us.” (Bridges)  Then we must adhere to that instruction.  It must be heard, it must be remembered, and it must be practiced.  Listen to reproof and correction, don’t roll your eyes.  The purpose is to help keep you on the way of life.  Accept reproof as good medicine.
     We walk the way of the Lord to honor Him.  “The life of a holy man is a way to spiritual and eternal life, because it is the means by which men come to know God.  If there were no good men in the world, there would be no means by which sinners could be brought from death unto life.”  (J.L. Flores)  I remember once, back when I was eight.  I can remember my age because we were visiting my Uncle’s family in Wichita.  One night at dinner I whispered to my Aunt Bern, “I’m going to eat everything that Uncle Ted does.”  I did, though at the time, I had some trouble with the tomatoes, but I followed his example.  Jesus tells us that we are to be salt and light.  Why, so we can flavor the life of those around us and that we can show them the right way to live.  Paul says that we are “living letters.”  People read the Bible through our lives, they look at the way we walk, where we place our steps.  There was a wedding I attended and when it came time for the toast I refused the champagne, turned the glass over on the table, and held up the water glass for the toast.  I was told later by the groom that he and his wife were watching to see if I would compromise or if I would live up to my standards.
     Let me just mention that cheating and taking shortcuts are not the way to get ahead.  Oh, you might find you got there first, or you may have succeeded in getting a position, but at what cost?  To cheat is to wander off the path.  Let me close today’s thought with this from Dan Dick:  “We really do kid ourselves when we think cheating is a way to get ahead.  There is nothing to be gained by cheating.  Our victories are empty ones, and we open ourselves to criticism and doubt.  We lose our credibility and turn people against us.  It is in honesty and truth that we find fulfillment.  God dwells in truth, and He loves honesty.  This is the way of life, but the way of death is through sin.”  Therefore, let your light shine, and let it shine brightly.

There was something about the mountain air that made one want to inhale deeply…it was like fresh, clear, cold water in the throat.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Shalako)

       “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”
                    –Psalm 42:1 (NIV)
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       “Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.”  –Matthew 5:6 (Amplified)

     I have never truly been starving, but I have been very thirsty a few times in my life.  Ask a person who has been starving what it means and he could tell you.  How then, do we judge hunger?  If we are to hunger and thirst after righteousness how do we do so?  Thomas Watson gives us some insight.  First, true hunger is a painful thing.  As the Psalmist wrote, “They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.” (107:5, NIV)  Food and water are required for life.  If that is true in the natural, how much more true is it in the spiritual?  Hunger is satisfied with nothing but food.  The content is important–food is needed, not flowers, not music, not well wishes.  Give me a steak!  
     Watson continues and says that hunger wrestles with difficulties and hunts for food.  Man in many parts of the world was a hunting and gathering society.  They spent most of their time hunting.  Why?  Because they were hungry, they knew that food was imperative to life.  Oh, that we could grasp that in the spiritual.  How much do we search for food in the Scriptures?  Why do we not understand that it is imperative to our spiritual life?  He then says that the hungry man goes to his food with a strong appetite.  You do not have to persuade him to eat.  One more thing, though not required, he tastes flavor in his food; it is not bland.  Spices and salt are not required, the food has enough flavor of its own.  The Bible has its own flavor, it does not need an outside opinion.
     “Don’t eat that!  You’ll ruin your supper!”  Have you ever heard that before?  Or perhaps, “don’t eat that, it’s not good for you.”  We should avoid things which will hinder our appetite.  Sweet things spoil our appetite and can hinder the taste of real, supportive food.  Watson states, “When one is filled with a windy opinion of his own righteousness, he will not hunger after Christ’s righteousness.”  Stay away from false doctrine though it might appeal to the senses.  Then watch out for the wrong type of calories.  American youth look healthy because they are getting plenty of calories, but in reality most are not because of the type of calories they are eating.  “You cannot glut yourself upon the world, and at the same time be greatly in love with Christ.” (Watson)  What music do you listen to?  What friends do you hang with?  What do you watch on television, movies, social media?  Are they the right type of “calories” to help your spiritual nourishment?  John tells us, “Do not love the world, or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15, NIV)  We should do all that we can to provide a nourishing spiritual appetite.  We are reminded by Paul, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8, NIV)
     When we eat we are satisfied now, but there will come a day when we will hunger no more.  To eat of the world’s bounty is fading, not filling.  We read in Psalms, “My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” (63:5, NIV)  Jeremiah brings us a promise from God, “I will bless my people with more food than they need, and the priests will enjoy the choice cuts of meat.  I, the Lord, have spoken.” (31:14, CEV).  God, and His bounty, His provision, His life-sustaining food, can never be exhausted.  Know this, sin will starve the soul.  Stay away from what the world offers and look instead to the table of the Lord.  Realize also, that the hungry soul is the most thankful.  We should be “looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13, NIV)
     “O the bliss of the man who longs for total righteousness as a starving man longs for food, and a man perishing of thirst longs for water, for that man will be truly satisfied!”