What Do I Do Now?

While riding down a road in rural Nevada a few years ago, I came to a sign that said, “Pavement Ends.” But it was much more than that, the road ended too. I couldn’t help but take a picture because I find in it a metaphor. We have all, at one time or another, literally or figuratively, come to the end of road that we had been traveling down, absolutely sure that it was the right road, the road that would lead us to a perceived destination.

The road of life is one that is filled with twists and turns, many crossroads, many forks in the road. And if we are honest with ourselves, we have all made some wrong turns, taken the wrong fork. We’ve all made some life choices, that at the time, seemed to be the right choice. Then one day we awakened and realized that we were on the wrong road.

For the world at large, life choices are a combination of heart’s desire, education, the school of hard knocks, etc. For the Christian, God has given us a map, a light for our path, His Holy Word, the Bible. Of this book, the Psalmist wrote, “Your Word is lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). God’s Word teaches us the difference between right and wrong, it gives us wonderful words of wisdom to which we can turn when we find ourselves at the crossroads of life, where we all find ourselves and where we are forced to make decisions that are going to affect the rest of our lives. Choices such as, what career path, which college to attend, how to make wise business decisions, the choosing of a mate, in which town will we live? Yes, God’s Word can assist us in all of these.

But all too often, even as Christians, instead of making choices that are rooted and grounded in prayer and the wisdom of God’s Word, we find ourselves making life-changing decisions that are based on feelings or gut reactions, only to say later, “But it seemed so right at the time.”

What does one do when they awaken the fact that they took a wrong turn at the fork in the road? Unfortunately, God doesn’t just pick us up and then place back at the fork or in that place that we want or need to be. But, if we will return to Him and confess that we made this decision without His clear direction and that we now desire His way, His will, His best, He then has an uncanny way of leading to connecting roads that will put us back on the path that He desires for us.

There are, however, decisions that we have made and circumstances that He cannot undo, things such as divorce or the death of a loved one. In that case, God promises us the grace to move on from the point of loss or devastation. He promises healing of broken hearts and comfort in our losses.

So when you come again to the sign that says “Pavement Ends” before you just wheel around and head in another direction, take time to draw near to the one who desires to guide you in the way that you should go, the one who cares about you deeply and has you best welfare in mind. “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)