The Road Not Taken

Outside of the Bible this is my favorite poem, but I ask that you read it from a little different perspective.  Read it from the point of being a leader, a father, a dream or as a person who wants to make a difference in the lives of others.  Read on:

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,


And sorry I could not travel both


And be one traveler, long I stood


And looked down one as far as I could


To where it bent in the undergrowth;



Then took the other, as just as fair,


And having perhaps the better claim


Because it was grassy and wanted wear,


Though as for that the passing there


Had worn them really about the same,



And both that morning equally lay


In leaves no step had trodden black.


Oh, I marked the first for another day!


Yet knowing how way leads on to way


I doubted if I should ever come back.



I shall be telling this with a sigh


Somewhere ages and ages hence:


Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,


I took the one less traveled by,


And that has made all the difference.

Those are some of the most powerful words that draw a picture for me of a calm and serene time and place.  It is a place of contemplation and of planning.  It is a place where lots of questions are addressed and dreams are prepared to be fleshed out or lived out.

As a leader of a church and a ministry on the edge, in many different facets, I find myself often sitting at the crossroads where a choice has to be made.  The question is even for me as a father and a husband in leading my family.  Which road will I take, will we take?  It may be the road of “least resistance” or the one with the widest and easiest way to find.  Or it might be the one with lots of turns and views that take your breath away.

I tend to like adventure.  Experiences that fill our senses and our mind are incredible things that add to life.  Yet as a leader it is not a choice for me alone, but it a choice to go in a direction leading others to their greatest potential and for their greatest good.  The choice can’t be based on what is easy.  It has to be what is right and what will make the biggest difference.

The road not taken can be grieved over forever, or you can move on.  Make the best decision you can and move forward with all the gumption you can muster and lead others with the confidence that only God can give. 

I stand at that road a lot.  I am there more than I care to share with you or with anyone.  But I have seen God work.  He has done miracles in my life and in countless others.  Some of the decisions had points that I could see and be so excited about.  Other choices came with faith and a hope that God would show up as we follow where He leads.

These are the roads I long for.  There are lives to be touched.  There are adventures to be had and faith to be lived out.  Look at the decision before you, look at the fork in the road, and make your decision leaning on the things God has said and the way the Spirit leads.  God will show up.  He did in the past.  He will do it again.  And that has made all the different.

Genesis 12:8 (NLT)

After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the LORD, and he worshiped the LORD.

Proverbs 20:24 (NLT)

The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?

Proverbs 16:9 (NASB)

The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.