The Crossroads of Decision
Are you there right now?
Ed and Maria have learned the language, built friendships, shared the Good Word; and now, two fragile small groups of new believers are meeting from this unreached people group in Central Asia. But Maria's mother is failing and Maria is the only child.
Heather has been strongly drawn to the poor in this mega city. She has poured Christ's love into their hearts. Just now on home assignment the unexpected, though long longed for, happened. She met the man who quickly became the soul mate of her heart. He's not interested in leaving home, but he'd like Heather to stay.
The door has opened, visas are available, Rhona and Peter have prayed for this for years, but now they have children. The country is unstable, medical help virtually non-existent. They can easily choose to risk it themselves, but is it right to take their children into that place where there's no safety net? 1
We long for a clear word from God. There seems to be no solution. Every option is unacceptable. What do we do?
This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."
(Jeremiah 6:16, NIV)
1) Look at the Situation, and at Your Heart.
This word from Jeremiah was given to God's people at a most critical point in their journey. It seems such an encouraging and helpful word. But notice the very next phrase - it is devastating:
"But you said, ‘We will not walk in it. We will not listen.'"
(Jeremiah 6:16, 17, NIV)
This is the greatest danger at the crossroads. So many options, but one which is not open - as a good friend of ours said when facing one of the toughest crossroads of her sixty years: "The words ‘Lord' and ‘no' don't belong in the same sentence."
Charlie Peacock, in his song Almost Threw It All Away, confessed that he could "twist the truth into any configuration." Perhaps you also have this expertise. Can you buttress decisions with wonderful arguments that convince all? Is God fooled?
As we achingly seek the path, we need to remember that,
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise."
(Psalm 111:10, NIV)
So humbly we kneel and whisper "Thy will be done" as we...
2) Ask for the Ancient Paths.
Fascinating. At this most critical of crossroads, we are pointed not to the future, but to the ancient paths. We're not told to seek out something new, but something old. We're not instructed to uncover the unknown but to be renewed in what has already been revealed.
So then, when we find those ancient paths, what do we discover at their heart?
"...from ancient days I am He."
(Isaiah 43:13, NIV)
His are the ancient paths. HE is the ancient path.
We are invited to trust this Faithful One, even when, especially when, we have no idea what to do.
Of course we seek advice, we pray for guidance, we learn from mistakes, we lean on those wiser than ourselves; but above all we look to the One from of old as we...
3) Ask Where the Good Way is.
The good way is what we find when we look back to the One of the Ancient Paths. Over the years I've made a list of the places where the good way is described in the Book of Books. You won't be surprised to hear that the good way is never about the kind of dilemmas that constantly perplex us.
And yet it's in that good way that we find His peace.
The good way, according to the One of the Ancient Paths, is not about living in the UK or Albania or Kyrgyzstan. It's not about whether or not I will marry. Nor is it about whether I am a physician or an accountant or a translator or a church planter. It's not even about whether we home school or go home from school.
The good way is about righteousness, truth, a servant spirit, forgiveness, kindness, compassion, trust, and sacrifice. That's the good path we walk with God. That's His place where peace is promised.
And as we find that good way, we're almost at the place of peace. As Jeremiah said, His peace finds us when we...
4) Walk in the Good Way.
It's only then, in the walking, that we find peace. Better said, it's only then that peace finds us. Even better said, it's only then that the One Who is Peace finds us. It's then that peace, that He, becomes our close companion - even as we remain utterly confused, even as we are torn between alternatives. His peace is not in location or vocation. His peace is in walking hand in hand with Him, trusting that He will carry us, and that He knows where He's going.
In his penetrating book, Ruthless Trust, author Brennan Manning tells this story:
When the brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh went to work for three months at "the house of the dying" in Calcutta, he was seeking a clear answer as to how best to spend the rest of his life. On the first morning there he met Mother Teresa. She asked, "And what can I do for you?" Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him.
"What do you want me to pray for?" she asked. He voiced the request that he had borne thousands of miles from the United States: "Pray that I have clarity."
She said firmly, "No, I will not do that." When he asked her why, she said, "Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of." When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the clarity she longed for, she laughed and said, "I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God." 1
We trust God as we follow the path of the Ancient One Incarnate, imitating Him in His most confusing, bewildering moment of all.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps... When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
(1 Peter 2:21, 23, NIV)
John Wile is a veteran member care provider.
1 Ruthless Trust, Harper San Francisco, © 2000, p.5
