The Knotted Cord

Feed your spirit— Bible rich devotions & daily encouragement.

When the Path is Dark

Life can be dark, so how do we see?

My grandmas property that her house sits on has several acres most of which is covered by trees, brush, and overgrown grasses. Prior to my grandfathers passing, to conveniently get around the place paved paths through all of the brush. Just some old dirt trails, some take you to the garden, some to their pond. However since he has passed a lot of the upkeep of some of the trails has suffered, fallen branches on the ground, stringing vines of leaves hang above your head and when it rains it’s practically a mudslide! One of the paths in particular connects their property to mine. Often I’ll just walk from house to house or place to place- seemingly relying on the path to get me there.

However when it gets dark its nearly impossible to get anywhere without a flashlight. Without one I’m left tripping over fallen branches, dodging the hanging limbs and avoiding any hidden spider webs (that I never seem to be aware of until it clings to my face) eek! 

The point of this story of mine is to bring forth an underlying spiritual message. You see, during the day light hours I had no trouble traveling the trails. It seemed as if I was solely reliant on the trail to get me home. Although when it started to get dark, the path alone wasn’t enough anymore; I needed a light. To take this further into the spiritual side of things- It is  so essential that we look beyond just the path, beyond what we can see in the flesh. When life is going your way and the suns out and you think “well I got my path, I know where I’m going, got this to do, here and there to go..” The problem with that frame of thinking is that it all is built on a temporary circumstance. The easy breezy flow of life continually going your way is just like the mid-day sun. It’ll rise for a while but it ultimately has to come back down. Life will not always go the way you planned- even if at mid-day it looked like all was in order. Therefore you cannot be reliant on the path!

“Life will not always go the way you planned- even if at mid-day it looked like all was in order. Therefore you cannot be reliant on the path!”

You may think you have it all mapped out but take heed; when the sun sets, when it gets dark, theres branches to step over, hanging limbs to dodge and spider webs to be aware of. So when the path gets dark, we need a light.

Psalm 119:105 reads “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

The word of God is the light to our path. Our lamp to light the way- the way over the branches, under the draping limbs, and make us more aware of the hidden webs of the enemy. When life is going as planned and you think you can see a long ways ahead of you, it won’t be too long till’ the sun sets and theres a night of trouble. So holdfast to the word and it will light your path of darkness and guide you home safely- in sun, in mudslides, over branches, under limbs, around the webs.

When the Path gets Dark, Pull out a light!