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 dreamer or as a person who wants to make a difference in the lives of
others. Read on:
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.
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.
The LORD directs our steps, so why try
to understand everything along the way?
The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his
steps.
NOTE: this post was originally
shared in May of 2012 and now shared again because of the God using it to
inspire me.
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