Straight Paths and Crutches
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” Prov. 3:5-8
“An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked.” Prov. 29:27
Healed and refreshed. Fighting against injustice and a thorn in the side of the wicked. Being led on straight paths by the One who is outside of time and sees far more than I.
Surely invaluable realities like this carry a price tag which I cannot afford.
But they only cost my pride. My self-perceived wisdom is a cracked crutch which I think can bear the weight of my future, but it will inevitable let me down, hard.
Yet, my first parents gave me an inheritance that I instinctively guard. Like a treasure chest filled with ashes, my disregard for authority and trust in my own perceptions promise to deliver wealth, but are counterfeit currency.
The moment my eyes blink open in the morning I’m seeing through heavy lenses. Laden with a lifetime of experiences, they interpret the world and send data to a brain so very quick to call its own verdicts “just.”
I can simultaneously applaud my own understanding- defending it with tenacity and disregard for others’ opposing opinions- yet point a condemning finger in the mirror. It makes my bones weary. This is not God’s good design.
He beckons me to look up, and walk away. A reverend fear rises when I behold him as he truly is.
Walking away from the rotten food of my prideful self-reliance, I get to sit at the banquet table of the very Creator of taste and pleasure.
He welcomes me in, draws me close. I speak my sin into the air, with my brothers and sisters sitting near, and our mutual Father gathers our wrongs and casts them far away.
We’re free to speak life and listen with joy.
The sharp Word files down my lenses, gradually helping me see more clearly. Straight paths don’t require a crutch.
