The Vine

Everyone who lives here or who's been to Hilton Head knows that it's dark at night....very dark.  When I walk our dog at night I take a flashlight with me just in case a car comes by - I turn it on so they know we're there on the road. Awhile back there was a vine hanging from a huge tree, which dangled into the street.  Actually, it was several vines (you know the ones I'm talking about) and had tree branches and spanish moss entwined in it.  I knew that vine was there because I saw it in the daylight.   I don't need the flashlight at night because I know the street because I've walked the dog on it for 8 years.  I know the vine is there, so I when I get to that part of the street I know to walk around it. Well one night it had shifted somehow and when I came to that part of the street I didn't walk far enough around it and walked right into it.  Needless to say, it scared the you-know-what out of me. 

I was walking the dog the other night with my dear friend who came to visit.  We walked and chatted, in the dark.  It suddenly came to me that although I know where I'm going, my friend had never walked on my street and realized she was walking in pitch black darkness without a clue as to where she was stepping!  I turned on the flashlight immediatley so she could see the street.  Not that she was scared, but her steps were uncertain as she was concerned about tripping. 

I sometimes find myself walking through my days without giving a second thought because I "know" the terrain.  There are days that I just do without asking God's guidance.  Just when I think things are moving along nicely, I hit the dangling vines. Suddenly I need that flashlight.  The treacherous vines are like satan in our lives.  We think we have a handle on him and next thing you know we're caught up in something.  Suddenly God says, "hey did you forget I was here? Turn on the Light."

I can get comfortable with the routine and kind of side-step Him in little things. Some days I postpone devotions to the end of my day and I run out of time. Funny thing, these are the days I seem to encounter more obstacles or difficulties, or just don't feel on track.  I need to start my journey each day with the light of the Word as a guide, just as I need my flashlight on my walks at night. Even when we think we know what we're doing or where we're going, we really don't! I don't know what I might come across, no matter how well I think I know my path.  He's not there "just in case" you need Him.  He's there period.  When God, who rules over all darkness, sheds Light on our paths through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, He makes our way clear. Others can also see that Light in our lives. Isn't that what it's all about?  But we have to turn that light on...of what use is He if we just say we have Him in our hearts but don't rely on Him? 

"Send forth your light and your truth,
   let them guide me;
   let them bring me to your holy mountain,
   to the place where you dwell. "   - Psalm 43:3

© 2010 Barb Weatherwax

Comments

[Marc Cantrell]

The funny thing I always turn on the light, because I don't trust the dark..especially when I walk the dogs..They have a tendency to try and trip me for a squirrel..