Straight Paths

It's a rise and shine Saturday, with a full morning ahead. I have a run this morning, a workout with my boy Brandon, and my son's basketball game. All joyous occasions to kick things off early.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." --Proverbs 3:4-5

My run this morning is five miles, which will be the longest of my life, and probably the part of my half-marathon training schedule where things start to get a little scary. I've had lots of scary life developments over the past couple years: in particular, leaving a salaried teaching job to become a business owner. Running my own business ventures has been very rewarding, and at times exhilarating, but it's also had periods of fear, self-doubt, and times where it just wears me down and wears me out.

The proverb above has meant a lot to me throughout that time, in a couple of ways. I think some of my decisions have leaned on my own understanding, not God's timing. We probably all do that from time to time, doing what we want and asking God to bless it, rather than going where God is leading us. Still, He has kept me upright and seen me through those decisions, to the point where I feel like I am listening to His voice more now and not my own.

The song I woke up to this morning is one of my favorite songs, "Beautiful Things" by Gungor.

"All this pain, I wonder if I'll ever find my way / I wonder if my life could really change, at all
All this earth, could all that is lost ever be found / Could a garden ever come out of this ground at all
You make beautiful things / You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things / You make beautiful things out of us."

I find so much hope and truth in those words, to know that God can create beautiful outcomes for someone so flawed like me. Our lives and the changes that come with it can be scary and can wear us down, to the point where we wonder why we are where we are. I'm trusting the notion that I am where I am because God has ordained it, and He will lead me through any situation if I rely on Him.