...the right path

I saw an interesting movie yesterday called The Adjustment Bureau. It was pretty good and I would recommend it. (I've yet to see a movie with Matt Damon in it that I didn't enjoy).


If you click on the link and watch the trailer for this movie, you can get a good idea of what it is about. It's an interesting and thought-provoking portrayal of the paths we take in life and what happens when we cross paths with others.


Without giving the movie away, I'll try to summarize a few main points.


Basically, there is a group of men in the "adjustment bureau" who try to make sure that everything in a person's life goes "according to plan" (that is, the plan that the "Chairman" has designed for a person). Things get interesting when Matt Damon's character David (who is running for NY senate) meets a woman named Elise, whom he is instantly drawn to. According to the "plan," he was only supposed to meet her once so that she would inspire him when giving a speech later that evening. However, David runs into her again, and he really wants to be with her. The guys from the adjustment bureau want to make sure that this doesn't happen, because it's not in the "plan." David is determined, though, to create his own path and to do whatever it takes to defy the fate set out before him. One of his lines in the movie is "All I have are the choices I make, and I choose her."


The movie really got me thinking about all the different paths that people are on and the ways and capacities in which they intercept. There are many, many people I've crossed paths with in my life. Some interceptions have been very brief, and others have persisted at length, but, aside from those still in my life, all have gone one way or another, continuing on their path in their respective direction.


It can be a sad thing when you see a person go, especially when that person played such a vital part in your life. I've always hated change and wondered why we couldn't keep going in the same direction when I was so convinced that we were. If you have a strong, committed relationship with someone, shouldn't that be enough to keep you going on the same path together?


I've realized that marriage is really the only means by which two people can truly commit to walking the same path together. When two people decide to marry, they are saying that they are willing to make some sacrifices in their life and do whatever it takes to keep going in the same direction with their spouse.


Lately I've been trying to discover what the "right path" is for me. I thought I had found it, but then it turned out to be a mere merging of paths for an extended moment of time. I can't find true security in walking a path with another person, unless it is God's path. The reason that some marriages fall apart is because couples are not walking God's path together: they are walking separate paths and trying to somehow merge them into one. God's path is the only real and solid foundation that can keep two people together, as long as they choose to walk His path as one in spirit.


Before I can even think about marrying, I need to know that I have found God's path, the right path to be on, so that if and when I marry, he and I can know the path on which to build our life and our relationship.


I used the keyword "path" to search for passages in the Bible that concern walking the "right path" and here is some of what I found: (emphasis added in places):


Psalm 16:5-11 (The Message)


5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.
And now I find I'm your choice!
You set me up with a house and yard.
And then you made me your heir!


7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake
is confirmed by my sleeping heart.
Day and night I'll stick with God;
I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.


9-10 I'm happy from the inside out,
and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed.
You canceled my ticket to hell—
that's not my destination!


11 Now you've got my feet on the life path,
all radiant from the shining of your face.
Ever since you took my hand,
I'm on the right way.


This passage emphasizes sticking with God on the path He provides, trusting that it is a "good thing going" and to not let go because God's path is the "life path," and He guides us by hand "on the right way."


Psalm 119:31-40 (The Message)
25-32 I'm feeling terrible—I couldn't feel worse!
Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember?
When I told my story, you responded;
train me well in your deep wisdom.
Help me understand these things inside and out
so I can ponder your miracle-wonders.
My sad life's dilapidated, a falling-down barn;
build me up again by your Word.
Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;
grace me with your clear revelation.
I choose the true road to Somewhere,
I post your road signs at every curve and corner.
I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;
God, don't let me down!
I'll run the course you lay out for me
if you'll just show me how.
33-40 God, teach me lessons for living
so I can stay the course.
Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—
my whole life one long, obedient response.
Guide me down the road of your commandments;
I love traveling this freeway!


When life gets difficult and we don't understand why certain things are happening, why people are leaving our life or why our relationships are changing, God wants us to look to Him for wisdom and direction. Not only must we ask Him to show us the right path, but also to "barricade the road that goes nowhere." By knowing where not to go, it will help us to more clearly see the course God has for us.


Proverbs 3:5-7 (The Message)
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.


Following God's path requires trusting him "from the bottom of your heart" and not trying to figure out everything on your own. If we listen for His voice, He will guide us and keep us on track.


Ecclesiastes 11:5 (New International Version, ©2011)
5 As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed[a] in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.


Trust in God's path also requires admitting that I just don't understand the work of God, but that I have faith that the way in which He is leading is inevitably best, for God's ways are higher than my ways (Is. 55:9).


It's really, really hard to see the ways in which God is working in the midst of confusion and sorrow when relationships change, especially when the relationship was really good and beneficial, but I just have to trust that it is a part of God's greater plan for my life, a plan far better and far above any plan I could conceive for myself on my own.


And who knows but God if our paths might cross again.