Redirected Path
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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
Two years ago when I visited Punta Gorda, I heard God speak to my soul – “Go further.” I was in the last place Dave and I vacationed together before his diagnosis. As I ran the Harbor walk, the trail had been expanded from when Dave and I had walked it. As I ran, I felt Dave’s presence and God calling me to go further in my life.
Last year when I ran the Harbor walk trail, I prayed for God to speak to me again. As I ran around the hotel Dave and I had stayed, I felt Dave’s presence and heard his words in my heart that it was OK to move forward with my life. He was at peace in Heaven, and I needed to continue with my life journey.
This year as I ran the same trail, I ran to the end of the northern Harbor walk trail and turned around running back over the same route. I needed a few more steps to complete my four-mile run so I continued past my starting point. I became aware the path was re-routed and updated. It was then I heard God speak within my soul – “Your path to me has never changed, it has just been re-routed.” The course God planned for me still had the same destination, it was just re-routed and updated to reflect the changes in my life and the pain and heartache that now became a part of the trail.
None of us planned for our lives to change so dramatically and suddenly even if we knew the decline was revealing change. But here we are. Our lives encountered an end to a path, and we are re-routed. We have retraced our steps – our memories of what our lives used to be and who we were on the journey with our loved one. We have wondered what comes next. How can I continue on this path of life? Then God reveals a path that may have some familiarity but appears different. We are still going toward Jesus, but we feel an emptiness on the journey. It is not what we dreamed, but it is what we now have.
As I ran the path, a turn on the trail revealed a monument erected to remember Hurricane Charley that devastated Punta Gorda in 2004. The monument is of a tall palm tree, a bent over palm tree and a sun dial. The sun dial depicts the time of the hurricane – 4:29 PM. The bent over tree represents the destruction and the tall tree reveals the strength of survival in the storm.
This reminded me of grief. We remember the exact time of death and those last moments of trauma, devastation and death, but we have survived. Life is totally different. We have begun to re-route and now rebuild a life. We are stronger because of our trust and dependence upon God. We may not feel strong, but we have survived the most devastating event of our lives, and now are trying to help others along the path.
The route you are on currently is not one chosen by you. Life has re-routed your path. I have learned from the Harbor walk trail that life goes on. We remember. We celebrate life. We remember the heartache and pain. But as we trust in God, He re-routes our path on earth but our final destination with Him remains the same. Trust. Trust even when your heart aches. Trust even when it is hard to believe. Trust the path. Trust the One on the path with you.
