Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
I had a dream last night, it shook me to my core. You see I was driving my car, but wound up behind – a woman walking, then a large group of individuals walking. I could have gone around her – them even, but I chose to follow them for some reason. “Oh, there’s my exit! I have to get off here!” I kept going straight. Knowing that it was the wrong way. Knowing that the only way to get back on the right track – to my destination, was to turn around.
I kept going. I kept following the crowd. It didn’t feel right. I knew it wasn’t right, still, looking up, looking back, I saw no way of escape. I resigned myself to this fate. That is until, I saw where this road led me. At the end of the road, the people continued to walk into water, immediately swallowed up to their waistline, then their heads. What happened to my car? Why am I now on foot? I have no voice as I try to tell them, “We can just go back, I know the way!” I search frantically for the woman who was in front of my car. She was an elder woman. Just as she is about to step in, I grasp her by the hand, point to the road above. We can go up there, and be safe, I know the way! It’s what I think, it’s what I want to say. Her face sorrowful, as she releases my hold. She propels me forward as she steps back into the water.
(I took this image in Bordeaux, France.)
I find myself on the higher ground. How did I get here? “You’re where you’re supposed to be.” But those people, they are missing the turn, I have to warn them. “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 NIV
What does this say of me? What path am I on? Driving to work this morning I must admit, I was moved. I stayed in the right hand lane – not wanting to make the mistake of missing my exit, literally or figuratively. Still, I was moved. I wondered to my Lord, “What was the meaning of this dream?”
Have you ever been in a place in your life where you felt like you weren’t necessarily in the place you ought to be, but don’t know exactly where you need to be? I have felt an urge to go. But to where, I don’t exactly know. It feels almost like I am being pushed out even. I look at the current state of my current position, and something tells me, I’m not far off. Things that should have been taken care of were not – and I’m not referring to myself. There’s just something inside that tells me, something is not right here. There are things I have a pulse on, and more than meets the eye. I have had to wonder, am I attempting to please God or man. Sometimes it feels like man – but why do I do that?
Man’s opinion of me matters not. Like my dream I have been following man more than I have been following my Father. And, hasn’t this led me astray? Totally. Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction…. Narrow is the road that leads to life. This, I must remember, because following man will lead me to my death! Don’t I always feel some kind of way when I let others down – or they let me down, or I feel excluded or misunderstood? Why does that matter? I have an end goal, we all do! Let our Father lead us, not man. To walk the straight and narrow is tough. But isn’t it necessary? Isn’t it worth it in the end?
On the Outside Looking In 