The Road We Travel

Life has been called a journey and at times it can seem like a very long and winding one.  In Proverbs 5, the Bible says “for a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord and he examines all his paths”.

During times in my life when I was less interested in God, this verse spooked me.   I thought….”all of my ways are in full view of God? — holy &#@>… I’m in deep trouble”.   Since some of “my ways” don’t really line up with His ways and since all my ways are in full view of God, I was naturally fearful.

Ever felt like that?   Ever been so ashamed of your ways, your past, that you can’t bear to face God…so you hide and try to find peace by avoiding the topic?  If you are like others, this may be why you don’t go to church anymore, why you stopped reading the Bible, why you avoid Christians or why you don’t seek spiritual things, like you may once have.

I now know that I am fortunate to have experienced this fear or conviction.  To me, this is a sort of “healthy” fear of God…one that is aware of His omnipresence (His ability to see everything all the time).  This realization of being in “full view” of His eyes made me want to act right.  However, I’ve discovered, as you may have…it’s really hard to “act right” using your own will and mental resources…but that’s a story for another day.

The Proverbs scripture says, “…for a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord”…..the word “ways” in Hebrew is derek, which means: “a road, as a trodden road, such as, a course of life or mode of action, conversation, journey, manner, way”. The root word for this Hebrew word is darak which means to tread or walk.  So you could say that our course of life or the road we travel each day, is in full view of God.

When the Bible says “He ‘examines’ all his paths”, the word examines is also translated “pondereth” or ponder.  If you see something that interests you, you probably ponder it or think about it.  I ponder my girls at college quite a bit.  I think about what they must be doing, what they’ll do this summer, what they are studying, how well they studied for a test, their decision making about relationships.  I ponder or think about them a lot because they are very, very important to me.  If I did not love them intensely, I would not ponder their very paths much.

It is completely astounding, deeply comforting and fascinating to me that God ponders and thinks about my path!!  The God of the Universe actually gives thought to my path…and He thinks about your path…that’s because he’s interested in our path….all of our paths.  He likes us, like I like my girls…but more. He is very jealous for us.

Over time I have come to be encouraged, excited and humbled that God sees the road I travel….He knows my course of life, he sees my journey…he sees the road I walk.   This means God is able to see all of time and space.  This is the kind of God I want to follow and know.  A God as powerful as that should be honored, revered, (yes) feared, worshiped, followed, obeyed and loved. The idea that He sees all of my actions and ways and my personal life journey, means He is higher than everything, He’s sovereign and it means He cares.

Best of all is that after seeing all my ways (many of which I am not proud) he still loves me…..and….he still loves you.  He loves you even if you’ve had an abortion, if you thought about murder, if you cheated on your spouse, stole from a family member, betrayed a friend, screamed at your neighbor, lied to a teacher, drank too much, cursed at the car that cut you off or even if you hate your life and yourself.  Nothing separates us from His love and his loving watchful eye of the road we travel.

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV): For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.