When You Have Not "passed this way before"

Several years ago when our family was in a crisis situation I found myself saying the same thing over and over, “I don’t know. I’ve never been down this road before.” It was a time when as a mom and wife I wanted to be able to help my family navigate the circumstances with as little hurt as possible. The truth was there wasn’t anything I could “do” to fix the situation. I could not heal my son-in-law’s cancer. I couldn’t take away their fear and worry. I couldn’t fix my husband’s depression nor take away his despair.

What I discovered is I could walk with them through the experience. We learned another layer of “take it as it comes.” We learned to just deal with today, one step at a time as the saying goes. Those hard life lessons have helped us many times since. The circumstances have not been literally “life and death” as they were in 2004 but they have been our circumstances. Things that matter to us.

Recently our family entered a new season of unknown territory. As the Bible encourages us to do I am spending much of my time praying and remembering how God has walked us through unknown territory before. I remember that He gave us what we needed each step of the way. I also remember that most of the time I felt very “lost” but that I never really was because I He was with me the whole time. I would pour out my heart to Him and then when I was totally spent I would sit in His presence and somehow He let me know what to do next. Sometimes it was through a “still, small voice” in my heart but often it was through the helping hands of others in our life.

This morning I was reminded that virtually every day could be a way we “have not passed before.” A day that could challenge us. Dealing with Joshua and the Children of Israel Joshua 3:4  says (referring to the ark of the covenant) “Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” (emphasis mine) NKJV  The key is not necessarily having all the “answers” or even knowing which way to go or what to do ahead of time. The key is to keep my eyes on the Lord  and follow Him one step at a time.

Are you in a situation that you are not sure how to handle? Just take it one day or maybe in even just one hour at a time, keeping your eyes on God. If you’d like more encouragement let me know. We are here to help.