Blind

Years ago when we were going through the security maze at the airport, I noticed one of the airport assistants guiding a lady through the line. I wrote a story about it then and ran across it this week while I was cleaning up emails. It was a God lesson then and a good reminder to me now.
I watched for a moment and realized the lady was blind and traveling alone. We were dispersed to another line on the other side so I lost track of her…until… we had gone down the escalator and were waiting for the tram to take us to the next terminal. There she stood alone, with her tracking stick.

I asked her if I could help and she said sure…and we talked a minute until the tram came and I helped her into the cabin and we continued visiting for the short ride. How do you do this? With a smile on her face and a gentle voice, she said you just ask a lot of questions and that there is always someone around who is willing to help. I just get someone to point me in the direction that I am suppose to go…and I just start walking!

I told her I just think she is amazing to be able to travel so fearlessly and independently…you could do this too…she replied. And the doors opened …this was our stop but she was to continue on the tram. She could not possibly know how those few moments touched my life….Oh how I wish I could go back and tell her…but I wonder if God somehow lets her know in her heart the way her courage, and her tenacity and her mere willingness to not stop…effects those who cross her path.

She might have been blind but God has given her a vision….I don’t know what she believes or how strong her faith is or even if she has faith…but I suspect without waver that God is using that precious girl (about 30 years old) for his purposes…and I pray for her today…not knowing her name, but knowing the impact that her one chance meeting with me made. God knew it would be a meeting that would not go unnoticed….and unappreciated.

We assume we know where we are going and need no directions…but all too often we too are blinded by envy, or anger or a need to advance, or motives that are not pure or self gratification. When in reality….we need directions everyday if we are to live according to the purposes that God has planned for us. Only God knows where we would be most effective in our walk…Only God knows how to navigate us through darkened tunnels, only God knows who to send in our path who would lead us to his destination…only God knows the WAY!

All too often I try blindly to navigate my way through a problem without even considering to ask God for help and direction. But my little friend’s advice was timeless:
1) Ask a lot of questions
2) Be confident that there is always someone around to help
3) Just stop long enough to ask for directions
4) Get pointed in the right direction
5) Start walking…with faith that you are on the right course

Isn’t that the way God wants us to live each day? He might not answer all of our questions…he often times doesn’t answer any of them…but he does clearly direct us if we ask for his guidance…and stops us if we get turned around and hear towards the wrong path. We need to be willing to accept his lead. And be purposefully seeking it. Each of our goals is the same if we are trying to live as God would have us live….and that is to be obedient to the call that God has given. Our journeys will be different…but as Christians, believing Christians we will all end up in the same place. Heaven!

Psalm 23:2-4 He makes me lie down in green pastures, heleadsme beside quiet waters he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Proverbs 3:6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Each day we start out just as this precious blind lady did…we wake up and get up and try our best to navigate through life in a way that is safe and productive….but also just like my new friend we have to be willing to seek directions so we don’t get lost along the way. God knows where he intends to place us…and he knows the reasons that he has allowed us to go to the places that he has called. At each stop along our journey…there is something for us to learn; sometimes it is something about ourselves, sometimes it is something about other people…but at all times it is something that God has conceived andis teaching us about himself. It might be an example of his love beyond our comprehension, or his power beyond our recognition, or his faithfulness beyond our imagination. But all roads lead back to God….and his purposes and his plans.

May we recognize the fact that we do walk blindly into situations that are beyond our control and the best way to walk through them is holding God’s hand in the midst of them. For he is a trusted guide and stands at any fork of any road to give us directions to get us to the place that he has purposed. It may not always be to the place that any of us had planned either….but God has his reasons….for each of his seasons!
2He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, [a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Dear Lord, Thank you for letting us see glimpses of you in each turn. Help us to faithfully seek your will and then obediently walk int he direction that you have guided us to. Remind us Lord that each day we need your help…and it is not until we ask that you make it clear which direction we are to go. And when we do finally ask, and we do finally choose to accept your will…just give us the little push we need to start walking! Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!