Find the Way Forward

What a Lesson Learned for

Finding the Way Forward!

For countless summers, the family took boat rides out to Ram Island Lighthouse just off Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  It gets its name from the sheep herders who have put herds of sheep on the island to graze—needless to say, it has natural fences!  Now, going to Ram Island can be a very tricky event if you go at the wrong tide. At high tide, it is an easy tie up and a short climb.  Go at low tide, and you have to navigate rocks to tie up and the ladder is about 8 feet longer and covered with slippery sea moss.  Of course, you can do it, provided you know what to expect and are careful.  Then again, for those who think again, and count on the tide, it can make all the difference in the world. 

Shakespeare tells it straight with Butus.  Plan carefully, go with events, and you will find the way forward.  We ought to toss in—and have a little luck!  Sounds a lot like timing the market.  Go with the flow!  

There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.               

                              Julius Caesar Act 4, scene 3, 218–224

Then, there is another option for the person of faith. What if we believed that we were not the principle actors, but God is, and that our purpose is to follow that God?  This would mean that we would pray for guidance, look for new options, and ask God to bless our choices for God’s sake.  

In other words, we might not expect it because we never looked for it.  For example, what if you went to Ram Island only at low tide—there would always be the same circumstances to challenge you, right?  Then one day, you decide to go at high tide.  What a difference!  And what a difference if we believe that God is the tide for us to go with, and through God, we find our way.  

After all, it was the Hebrews who discovered that God made the way in the wilderness and opened the Red Sea waters.  Then Jesus stepped into people’s lives and said “Seek the Kingdom first,” and you will find the way to all others.  

I guess it comes down to how you journey through life.  Who is the central actor?  We can do it ourselves OR for God’s sake!