Lost and Found: Rediscovering God's Path After 30 Years

I feel like the reset button has been pressed, and I've been transported back to when I was in 7th grade. To where my road diverged and went away from the direction God had intended for my life. It was there that He exposed me to woodworking, art, writing, and classical music. However, I chose the path of video games, money, and eventually alcohol. Ah, to have chosen the path He had for me would have been so much more peaceful.

I envision Him standing at the fork in the road, seeing all the danger lying along the path I was about to head down, pleading with me not to go. As I stepped onto the path headed for the wilderness, He created turbulence so I would feel the discomfort immediately, but I pressed forward, deeper into the thick brush. Getting hit with branches, scraped and stabbed with thorns, stung by insects. The deeper I followed this path, the harder the hiking became. Contracting poison ivy, tripping over rocks, falling down ravines. He had detour signs all along the path, but I was too focused on where my feet were treading to realize all that I had to do was look up. I was relying on my strength to get me to my life's destination. When that wasn't enough, then came the wild animals, chasing me, the sleepless nights, restless and afraid.

I would turn back and try to head back the same way I came. Consuming self-help and motivational content, I would do my best to traverse the difficult terrain I had followed. However, my efforts would end in exhaustion, and I'd find myself lost and disoriented. I kept finding myself in the same location, over and over, year after year. The animals would chase me back, deep into the dark and unforgiving forest.

I finally found myself too far to bear on my own. The edge of where my life only had two more directions. The last fork in the road...

I stood there considering my options.

Asking questions like, is this all there is to life? Why am I even here? Is it for your amusement, God? Why didn't you make me normal? Is this fun to watch?

I was done. Finished. I had no gas left in the tank. Life was too hard. I couldn't get out of the wilderness I found myself in.

But, before I could make a step in the wrong direction, I realized I had been standing in quicksand. He let me go as far as I'd push it, to the limits of myself, to the edge of what I could bear, teetering on the edge of the proverbial cliff. Now, that quicksand was stopping me from pushing the limits any further. I tried to crawl out, but the harder I fought, the further I sank. Day after day, night after night, wrestling with my inner demons, fighting with God, I was losing the battle, and the end was imminent.

I couldn't fight anymore.... There was no use.... I had exhausted every option that I could think of.....

I admitted defeat, and with a loud cry, I yelled, "I give up God!" You win. You know what's best for me! I'm sorry for trying to do it my way... I can't save myself...... I will follow You. I will trust You! I will go where You tell me!

In that moment, those dark last breaths before my fate was sealed forever, I saw a hand reaching down. It pulled me out of the pit that I had accepted would be my resting place. I crawled towards the second path option. As I crossed the threshold I was almost blinded by His light. My eyes were so accustomed to the darkness. When they finally adjusted, I found myself walking through what seemed to be a museum of the last 30 years of my life. Each exhibit was a snapshot, a memory. There were good and bad ones. Times of celebration and times of grief. There were moments of joy and depression. As I studied the videos, I noticed something peculiar. Something that I didn't remember in each memory.

There was someone in each video I didn't remember being there. I didn't recognize them either. Going all the way back to the moment I stepped onto the dark path I chose 30 years prior. What I found interesting was how He was always one step ahead of me. Clearing dangerous obstacles from my path. Sheltering me from the rain as it poured all around me. Scaring off dangerous predators while I slept at night. Stopping me from falling any further down the ravines. Carrying me back every time I was too weak to walk.

In that moment I realized something about the person who was with me in the wilderness. He had the same unique feature as the one who pulled me out of the quicksand. I remembered the hand that pulled me out of the pit had the same scar. The one who had been walking alongside me the entire way, the one who pulled me out of the quicksand, was Jesus Christ.

When I got to the end of the museum, He was standing there. He asked, "Are you ready to head back?" To which I replied, "Yes, but You lead the way!"

It was easier to find my way back when I had a Guiding Light. As we rounded the last corner, that familiar intersection I had come to 30 years ago came into view. There, in all of His glory, was God the Father, running towards me, shouting and rejoicing.

Jesus had done it again. One by one, leading God's lost sheep back home to the Father.

My life will be forever changed because of God's grace and mercy. If He hadn't sacrificed His Son for me, I would have never found my way back to Him. I could have spent another 30 years in the wilderness or never made it out alive. He saved me from the grips of Hell, that I am sure of. He pulled me out of the darkness. He never left that place where I chose to leave Him to find my own way. He waited, patiently, and when Jesus Christ rescued me, He forgave me for every sin I ever committed.

I am no longer lost. I am no longer a slave to darkness. Jesus died so I could live for eternity. I didn't have to earn it. My only responsibility was to accept the greatest gift anyone could ever receive. My life has been full of peace and joy ever since He saved me.

If you find yourself wandering in the wilderness, PLEASE hear me. There is a way out. It may not make sense now; it may sound like hocus-pocus, but I implore you to choose it. You will receive something that cannot be described.

It must be felt.

It must be experienced.

It's a "you had to be there" moment, that can only be appreciated by going through it yourself.

If you need rest, He has it. If you need peace, He has it. If you need love, He has that too. They're all waiting for you. It sounds too good to be true, but I promise you, I am a living testimony to the grace and mercy of God.

Please, don't miss this "Detour" sign...

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