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A Closer Walk

Every day, every single day, we have things that we must deal with, want to deal with, or would like to deal with. Hobbies and other things we enjoy we would like to be able to spend more time enjoying. Families we both want to deal with, and must deal with. Paying bills and taking care of our personal business is something we might prefer not to have to deal with, yet we must. All of these things may get us bogged down in the day to day of life.

"...For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about the street," Ecclesiastes 12:5 NASB. This verse from the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that this world is not our home. We are merely travelers, or sojourners, here. A traveler is someone on a trip that is just passing through. A sojourner is also someone on a trip who is just passing through, but who stays in a particular place for an extended period of time. As believers and children of God, we should then more properly refer to ourselves as sojourners rather than travelers. We are on earth for a predetermined amount of time known only to our Heavenly Father. He gives us the freedom, liberty, and free will to live life here as we might choose.
Those of us who have chosen to live in Concordia or Cloud County, Kansas, may be here because we were born here; or we have family here. Others may have come here for a job, or a job opportunity. If we are prayerfully considering the opportunities and choices that our God is putting in front of us, then there likely would be no wrong answer to the choices we are faced with. An example: the former New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra (known for his “Yogi-isms) once said, "When you come to the fork in the road, take it." He said this because in the housing development he lived in, he knew that after taking the fork, the road would come back together again before a visitor would reach his house. So it didn't matter whether someone went to the right or to the left when they came to the fork, they would still eventually wind up at Yogi's house.
Is it possible that it is the same with us? Has our God so ordained His opportunities and His choices for us that no matter which way we go, we would wind up at the location, or situation, or circumstance that He desired for us? Another example: when our children were small we would take them shopping for clothes and my beloved and I would eliminate the less desirable or pricier choices and wind up with two or three outfits for each of them to choose from. Then we would let each child pick the outfit they liked best. Yet another example: the last time we shopped for a car there were two cars at two different dealerships that were what we were looking for, would serve our needs well, and were in our price range. Both cars were made by the same car company. We had previous experience with this make and liked their product. Both cars were made the same year and were priced within a few hundred dollars of each other. One had a bigger engine and more bells and whistles, plus more miles. The other was a more basic model, but still a nice car, with fewer miles. My beloved and I agreed on one over the other and we bought it. See any similarities between this car situation and taking our children clothes shopping? Yeah, me too.
Sometimes our God may choose to arrange things in such a way that there is no bad choice. Other times He may allow us to wander in the wilderness trying to figure out what we should do. Just like the Israelites before they were allowed to enter the promised land. This wilderness wandering may in some way be good for us, as we grapple with the decision or situation we are facing, and try to discern what our loving Heavenly Father desires of us.
The choices and decisions we make impact our lives and the lives of our families and those around us. Prayerful consideration should be given to these decisions before we make them and carry them through to the consummation of the decision. But the Lord hears and answers, and He will guide us and direct us. And aren't we immensely grateful for that?

 

Concordia Blade-Empire

510 Washington St.
Concordia, KS 66901