God leads us on path’s only he knows why

August 5th, 2002 we moved into the First Baptist Church’s parsonage in the middle of a deluge the likes of which we hadn’t seen in months. We had just moved from draught stricken Kansas City, Kan., to begin a new chapter in our lives, as I had accepted the call to become FBC’s pastor. While my wife and I and many brothers and sisters from FBC unloaded the moving van and cars, the kids ran around frolicking in the rain, giddy with the shear joy from the refreshing drenching.Getting to this point had seemed like a long arduous trek through the wilderness on some unknown and unseen trail, much like the one the Israelites took with Moses to reach the promised land. Between the beginning of my last year at seminary and that day we pulled into Plainfield in the pouring rain, there were many days that I could identify with the Israelites cry, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt…”In retrospect, that deluge was a promise of the many blessings that God would pour out upon me and my family during my tenure at FBC Plainfield. It is only in looking back that I see the path that God was leading us on, a path, as the Psalmist says in Psalm 77 “that no one knew was there.” A path that would lead us to a land, “flowing with milk and honey.” That is the thing about faith. God leads us on a path that often times only He can see. Sometimes it is scary, and hard, and sometimes we wonder if He is planning our doom and destruction. It’s at those times we should look back and bear in mind the many dangers, toils and snares He has already led us through.  Then we can rest in the knowledge that the God who saw us through those times in the past will once again led us through to a new promised land.More then 14 years after that day in the rain, I find myself once again led off the beaten path and into the wilderness where the Lord is cutting a new path. Once again, it is somewhat daunting, not being able to see exactly where the trail leads.  Once again, I find myself living solely by faith, trusting that the Lord will lead me into a new deluge of blessings.  Trusting that He will lead me on “…a pathway no one knew was there!” (Ps 77:19 NLT)