A road less travelled

Life is like a road. For the majority, it is a large super highway.
It is an easy-coasting road, with many lanes to choose from, all leading to the same destination.

The Bible is our road map for the journey. The map points us to a road 'less travelled' , named Yahushua. Some of us get off the highway and start driving this narrow road. Contrary to the statement: "The straight and narrow" it is actually a very winding road, with a lot of twists and turns. It is anything but straight.

Anyone who has gotten off the over-pass and taken the side roads through a town or city will know what I am talking about. There are all kinds of road signs on this less-travelled path, saying 'This way" or "That way". Occasionally you even come to an intersection with flashing lights and traffic cop directing you where to go.
None of this happens on the super highway. You can sail along on the highway without even thinking about it.

The road signs are put there by man. They may not be deliberately misleading, but genuinely meant as guides. How many times I have taken one, thinking it looked like a good road to take, I can't say. I do know that I have found myself across the railway tracks or over the river, and into the combat zone, trying desperately to find my way out. After a lot of time and gas wasted, I eventually find myself back on the road I started on, driving right past the sign I took. I was driving in circles!. I would say to myself "No, I will not take that road again" and drive off down the road to the next sign that looked right, and take the direction it indicated.

As I matured on this road, I would get part way down the new direction, and stop and look at my map once more. "No, turn around and go back" I would say.
This happened time and time again, but slowly I would gain some ground on my destination.
One time I got sick of the winding road, and got back on the highway again. It was just so much easier. I did not have to travel in the fast lane or anything, just the lane that suited me. However, once you have travelled the winding road you just can't get it out of your mind and you turn onto it once more.

On this road you encounter the intersection also. The flashing lights, the traffic cop directing, and a lot more people driving this road. You take the direction they do, as the policeman directs. It seems right. How could this many be wrong after all? The cop lookes very qualified and his title and uniform give him an air of authority that looks right. This MUST be the right way!
Although you are amongst a lot of other drivers now, after some time you realize it may not be the right road after all. "How can that be?" you ask yourself. "I can't be right and all these people wrong" After some time of self-doubt and self-condemnation, you eventually get your road map out once more, and start re-tracing your path.
You find it to be a little 'askew' and take the turns needed to correct yourself.

The next time you come to an intersection with an official directing, you learn to pull the car over to the side of the road, stop the engine, and get out your map once more.
It has now become clear that although the officer seems to have authority, it is ultimately YOU who is the one lost. The officer is not driving your car. He is quite happy directing traffic. If you get lost, he has too many other cars to worry about. The greater good is his concern.
It is now clear, YOU are the only one who has authority over your own life. The map pointed you to the road; the road called Yahushua. Your final destination is in traveling that road to the end. Your map pointed you to the right path, it will keep pointing you in the right direction.

Take it out, read it for yourself. YOU are the one who will end up lost otherwise. Looking back at the road sign you took, or the cop who directed you, does you no good now. The authority you give him is misplaced.
Do not feel you have to study the map all the time either. That is not it's purpose. Read it, and read it often, but reading it without Ruach Ha Qodesh, (your teacher who drives in the car with you) to bring you understanding, is pointless.
Many are stopped on the side of the road or in the middle of the intersection, studying the map but not doing any real driving. They may know many of the road names, but this life is a drive, not a study of the drive.
It would be like finding your way to Disneyland from Maine, and then spending the entire time on a bench in the park studying how you got there. You may be there, but the joy is wasted.

YHWH gave us His written Word as our road map. It is not a 'holy' thing to be worshiped, and it is not a difficult text book to be interpreted by others. It is plain, simple, and easy to understand.
Taking off in a direction that seems right without checking the map for yourself, will often find you in a zone that the map does not even cover! Any direction can be called 'right' in that zone. Interpretation for any self-motivated goal of any individual will sound right when out of the mapped area.

Our Father loves us, and gave us a map that the simplest, uneducated mind can comprehend. He even wrote the fundamentals on the tablet of our hearts, so we would not lose them.

When you feel the urge to travel down a 'new road', get out your map, and trust it's simplistic yet straight forward guidance. Stop the car and read it if you have to. You will get a lot further that way than taking the wrong direction and trying to find your way back later.

YHWH's Peace to all,
Nathan