My Pastor often teaches the following principle:
We live life on levels and arrive in stages. Each stage takes us to a new level of relationships, knowledge, understanding, authority and responsibility.
Over the last few weeks he has been reiterating this principle that he has taught us many years ago and I now see how this principle is playing out in my life. One thing that he added a few weeks ago was “Everyone doesn’t arrive at the same level or stage when you do.” This does not imply that you are better than anyone, it simply means that you are moving in a different direction than others. Everyone is not meant to be on the same level or at the same stage in life as their friends, family members, colleagues, etc. Often, people want to stay on the same level as the people they have grown with, but if God is taking you in a different direction who will you listen to?
For some people it is VERY difficult to change for a number of reasons. I’ve come to realize that most people are afraid of change, not because of the unknown at this new level or stage, but because of the reaction they will get from people who are used to them doing one thing. People equate the word change with the word phony, but it’s one thing to be fake and act like something you are not or are destined to be, than to reject God’s guidance in your life and head in a different direction. This brings me to one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost “The Road Not Taken”
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler,
long I stood And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Take the time to reflect and think about the direction that God is trying to take you. Are you headed down the road that everyone wants you to take or are you headed down the road that God has planned for you? When you realize that God always has your best interest at heart you will understand the new level of relationships, knowledge, understandings, and responsibilities that you now have to undertake. Taking the road less traveled doesn’t mean you forget the experiences, lessons, and people on your previous road. It simply means your interactions just change and you’ll meet new people as you head down your new path. You don’t burn bridges because you are no longer on the same path, you simply take a different course and maybe you’ll meet at the same intersection further down the road.
If you are still doing the same things that you were doing 5 years ago and are wondering why you have seen little growth in many areas of your life then that may be the reason; you’ve been doing the SAME THING. Change is the only constant in life. In order to move to a new level, you have to change and do new things and maybe even do these things with new people. One of my favorite scriptures is Jeremiah 29:11,
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
There are no coincidences with God. Everything happens for a reason and has it’s purpose, so I ask you (as I have already asked myself this question),
