Fall is in full swing in central Pennsylvania. The changing leaves have turned the landscape into a spectacular wonder that can only come from God himself. One of the pastimes of this season is to take a drive out to see the foliage. There is no need to have a destination in mind. There is no rush to get where you are going. It is all about finding the most meandering and scenic byways to take your time and soak it all in. In Pennsylvania, there is no shortage of twisty, country back roads to experience all of this. In fact, if the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, you will never be taking the shortest distance to go anywhere in central PA. Yet, it is often the twistiest of roads that have the most beautiful of views.

If only we could take a lesson from this for our own lives. If you are like me, you have a destination in mind, a straight path, and a calculation for how long it will take you to get where you want to go. I hate to get off course, take an unexpected detour (or get stuck behind someone who is just going out for a drive!) However, the Lord doesn’t work this way with His children. He rarely gives us the final destination (just look at Abraham) and almost never gives us a complete roadmap for how to get there. Instead, just as God led the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years, God expects us to trust Him and take a step of faith according to His directions each and every day. Looking back over the course of your life, you can quickly see how your path has been marked with many twists and turns, unexpected curves, and maybe even a time or two when you found yourself backtracking. Life’s journey, like the roads of central PA, rarely follows a straight line.

Following the Lord’s path for your life requires taking a step of faith each day with the confidence that God knows your destination. Don’t believe it? Here are just a few of the many encouragements from Scripture that express God’s desire to follow Him one step at a time:

1. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105) - The illumination God gives comes from His Word and illuminates only a small part of the pathway in front of us.


2. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. (Psalm 32:8) – God gives us guidance as we gaze toward Him in prayer for the next step to take.


3. Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. (Psalm 27:11) – God is sovereign and knows that sometimes it is necessary to take a back road in order to keep us from danger.


4. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139:3) – God is before us, behind us and beside us in the journey of life. He promises that we are not on life’s twisty paths alone.

We can be easily frustrated with the bad turns that life’s journey gives us at times. It would be so much simpler to just get to our destination via a straight path. Disease, heartache, loss and many other circumstances often alter the trajectory we have been traveling in life. It is especially at these trying junctures of life that we need to continue to trust God’s plan by looking for the next step He has lighted before you (through the Word of God), focusing your gaze upon the Lord for His direction (through prayer), recognizing His sovereign plan for you (by faith), and recalled the assurance that God is accompanying you on this twisty road of life as you seek to follow His way. And remember – It is often the twistiest of roads that have the most beautiful of views.