We were driving down the road, and I saw this street sign, without a street. There was a barbed wire fence, and no access easement at all. It was just a weird thing, and there were a couple of these along the road we were traveling. Why would there be a street sign on a highway where there is no road?
As I pondered on it, I thought about how I often try to make my own “road.” I label it as the road I will take, when clearly God has not laid the path for me to take there. I think I am going to be a trailblazer, when God has clearly put barbed wire fence as a deterrent. He has not laid access or given easement for me to get to the path I plan to take. He puts up roadblocks, and yet I still put up a sign for “My path.”
If I am honest the road leads to nowhere. Even if I blaze the trail, eventually it will lead to a dead end and I will need to turn around. I will end up on someone else’s property, doing something that is outside the plans and purpose for which God has created me.
The Bible has much to say about paths.
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For the sake of His name.
Psalm 25:4 Make me know Your ways, Lord; Teach me Your paths.
Psalm 25:10All the paths of the Lord are faithfulness and truth To those who comply with His covenant and His testimonies.
Psalm 27:11 Teach me Your way, Lord, And lead me on a level path Because of my enemies.
Psalm 119:35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.
Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
Psalm 139:3You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
Psalm 142:3 When my spirit felt weak within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk They have hidden a trap for me.
Provers 2:8-10 Guarding the paths of justice, And He watches over the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness, justice, And integrity, and every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, And knowledge will be delightful to your soul;
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 4:14 Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil people.
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
Proverbs 4:26 Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established.
Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of everyone are before the eyes of the Lord, And He observes all his paths.
Proverbs 10:17One who is on the path of life follows instruction, But one who ignores a rebuke goes astray.
Proverbs 12:28 In the way of righteousness there is life, And in its pathway there is no death.
Proverbs 15:19 The way of the lazy one is like a hedge of thorns, But the path of the upright is a highway.
Proverbs 15:24 The path of life leads upward for the wise, So that he may keep away from Sheol below.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 Just as you do not know the path of the wind, and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes everything.
Isaiah 26:7 The way of the righteous is smooth; O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.
Isaiah 42:16 I will lead those who are blind by a way they have not known, In paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them And uneven land into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone.”
Hebrews 12:12-13 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
Reading these passages and looking at the signs today, I realize how absurd it is that I try to put up my own signs, labeling my plans for my life. God has already written the plans for my life.
Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written All the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. Psalms 139:16
One day I will stand before Him and give account for all the times I created my own path, where I did not accomplish the things that He prepared for me to do. I don’t want to see a million signs to no where. I want to know that I am traveling on the path He prepared for me, following His plans for me.
I hope to finish my life and be able to say:
But He knows the way I take; When He has put me to the test, I will come out as gold. My foot has held on to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not failed the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. Job 23:10-12
Psalm 17:5 My steps have held to Your paths. My feet have not slipped.
Restoring Voice 
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