“When you see a fork in the road, take it.” (probably Yogi Berra; a “Yogi-sim”)

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” (definitely Sir Winston Churchill)

“If you do what you fear, you won’t fear what you do”. – Gordon Morton

Oh, how often we procrastinate – or more accurately, avoid – the thing we fear to do. I have always been painfully shy. By God’s graceful leading in my life, I have overcome by doing such things as Toastmasters, conducting bands, becoming a pastor. Also by God’s grace, my dream of becoming a pastor overcame my fear of beginning conversations and preaching.

When we aim our life camera backwards, gaze through the rear view mirror of our life-vehicle, we see the road we’ve traveled. Maybe we also see the forks in the road we could have taken, the U-turns God allowed us to make. Many times we are afraid of the undiscovered country, the unfamiliar destination. Hiking trails have “blazes”, which are strips of color painted on trees to re-assure us that we are on the right path, that we took the correct fork. Hope is our fuel or the extra dose of energy to forge ahead. Some circumstances can’t be explained to help us complete the trip. I would consider those “God-winks”.

We do ourselves a disservice when we park our keester on our suitcase and wait by the side of the road. Move forward. Head for what you believe to be your purpose in life. Where would the first disciples have been if they ignored the summons of Jesus? “The Way” would have found others, because the missio Dei (mission of God) was not to be denied. So deep is the unconditional love of our Heavenly Father.

Pastor Art