Before moving away from Yorkshire we used to visit the York Maize Maze which attracted crowds of visitors for a few weeks during the summer. I was always grateful to the organisers of this event who would furnish visitors with a map to help you navigate your way through. With the plants standing way above head hight to me, there would have been little chance of my family and I ever finding our way back out again. Maybe that is the way it is with life? I have found being a parent one of the scariest things I have ever done, particulalry that moment when we brought our girls home from hospital and I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of taking care of this tiny person when I didn’t know what I was doing.
As we have made the journey we have done over the last year, I note just how frequently I have felt out of my depth at times when the rule book simply doesn’t work, the rules change and are not necessarily as succinct as I would like them to be. Life feels a bit like working our way through the maze, not being quite sure which way to turn and sometimes feeling that we have made a slip and are heading in the wrong direction. I think that as we head through the Maze that is life we need three things.
- Some kind of map to guide us.
- The ability to interpret what the map is saying.
- The confidence to step out.
You would expect me at this point to drop the Bible in as a map for which way to travel and of course I have found it helpful in my journey. You might have found other books which give helpful guidance and increasingly people are turning to digital help. Of course the best help is always an encouraging word of guidance from somebody who has already worked out the way to go. The problem is that it is always too easy to misinterpret what is being said and we need some wisdom to be able to listen carefully, then try to act appropriately. Finally, we need to step out and that takes courage and conviction.
A Prayer
Heavenly Father,
You know every decision I need to make and every challenge I face.
Please forgive me for the times I try to figure this life out on my own.
I need you. I need your Holy Spirit to give me strength, wisdom and Direction.
Amen