Isaiah 45:2a "I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight"... (KJV)
I recently went on a great and challenging 12 mile hike through the Tillamook Trail Head.
The forest was beautiful. Got to love the beauty of nature/creation!
It started out as a cloudless morning, followed by fog one way, and on the way back, heavy clouds rolled in, followed by heavy rain and wind which made for a challenging hike back to the beginning. One cool feature on this hike is there is a viewpoint that is the closest you can get from the Oregon Coast to the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse.
I captured this tree on the pathway as I found it interesting...an elbow or crooked shaped tree next to a crooked and very uneven pathway with some fog rolling in.
It made me think of the reality of how sometimes our personal growth comes on the paths we're on that we think start off straight but one circumstance to another it becomes crooked, challenging, or less clear.
The physical path I was on that day was full of rocks, roots, divots, muddy patches, and more and then the skies opened up with very heavy rain and a little river ran through it due to heavy rain and wind! lol.
It's kind of like life as it wasn't a smooth pathway but growth often comes from some of the crooked or uneven pathways we travel on as life isn't always clean cut or smooth and as we persevere we grow in many ways through the process.
Whether it's a crooked path, or it feels like you've come to the end of the path and you're at the edge of a cliff, trust that God is on your side and will lead you to safety, because, with God, the path ends up being straight in the end even though while we travel it, it sure doesn't feel like it! :-)
So, here's to growth and here's to more adventures in this thing called life! Now on to the next adventure and time of growth!
Your Brother and Servant In Christ,
Randolph Koch
