I’m sure that y’all have all read the poem by Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken, also commonly known as the Road Less Traveled. I think that I would like that poem, except I was forced to over-analyze it in 8th grade…
Anyways, it talksabout two roads and how this guy is travelling and has to choose one of them. It describes the two roads: one of which was clearly the most popular-with a well worn path. I think if the poem was written today, the road wouldn’t be described as “And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth”. Nowadays, it would be more like “I looked down the first road, where trash and scum gently lay”. But anyways, that was the first road. The second seemed much less travelled, because the “leaves no step had trodden black”. My friend Robbie Frost ends up the poem with his ever famous lines “And I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference”.
But Robert, what happened next? What was the road like? Was it rough, with wild animals and monsters trying to eat your head off? Was it calm, with beautiful butterflies and all sorts of wood-creatures who came to assist you down the path? Were there lightning storms? Fire swamps? Rodents of Unusual Sizes? Or was it gorgeous, with lovely flowers and little fairies dancing in the moonlight? Was there sunlight all day? Without a cloud in the sky?
What was it like, Robert?
What happened?
That’s the thing. He doesn’t tell us. Which may be the real reason why I don’t like the poem as much as I would have otherwise. Suspense is great in books, but only when there’s a sequel coming.
Guess what, folks? We have many opportunities to choose paths, like my friend Robert did. We have many tough decisions. I remember toward the end of Freshmen year, my english teacher was complaining about how at least 3/4ths of us had written a particular paper on the same exact thing. We were asked to describe a difficult choice, about the process of making the decision and how it was resolved. Well, of course, give that prompt to a bunch of idiot freshmen and what do they initially think of?
“An important decision that I had to make was when I had to choose between taking German and French”.
That, what you just read, is the pitiful thesis that my poor teacher had to read over and over and over again.
Ridiculous.
All that to say, we make so many choices, even throughout the course of 24 hours.
What should I eat?
What should I wear?
How should I do my hair?
Should I drive down this road or that one?
Should I obey the law of “no cop, no stop” or not?
You get the idea.
Withall of these choices comes another question. Is there absolute truth?
I remember having an argument discussion in my English class about this.
I believe in absolute truth.
Many do not.
As a believer in Christ, you must (I think) believe in absolute truth. If not, then everything we believe is idiotic. There is wrong, and there is right.
For any of you who do NOT believe in absolute truth, imagine this conversation with me:
Sam: “Look, the sky is blue!”
Jane: “No it’s not, idiot.”
Sam: “What are you talking about? The sky is definitely blue, jerk-face. Unless your truth is that the sky is some other color.”
Jane: “Well, I believe that the sky is red. And don’t call me names, it’s rude.”
Sam: “I can call you whatever I want, because my truth is that it’s not rude to call people names.”
That may be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever written…
But for reals, it says in the Bible that “I [Jesus is talking here] am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). That means that there is only one way to get to heaven.
Anyways, back to the subject of choosing stuff.
What do you base your decisions on? Yourself? What you want? That’s the case with most of this world…we’re all so selfish. What we should do, when trying to decide something, is consult God. I mean, He definitely knows what you are going to do before you do it. Heck, He knew what you are going to do five years from now before you were even born. Talk to God before making any decisions. Make sure He gives you the okay before taking action.
And don’t just ask Him. Listen to Him. Do what He says.
Come on, it’s God we’re talking about.
Check out the book of Proverbs. Like, the whole book is about how you should seek wise council, be patient, listen to others. It’s the book of wisdom.
When you are about to make a really important decision, who do you ask for advice?
Do you ask anyone for advice?
What you need to do, friend, is find a couple of people that you really trust. People you respect. And who can keep their mouths shut if you need something to be confidential. Find someone who is wise. Someone who won’t give you the answer you’re looking for, but the one that may hurt you. Find a couple people like that. You won’t be disappointed.
I was just flipping through Proverbs (as I should, since I told y’all to read it) and came across this: Proverbs 3:6 “in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Yeah, I totally just now found that verse…and wrote that stuff about the two roads that Robert Frost talked about like 30 minutes ago. Cool stuff. See, if you ask God about what to do in every situation, He will “make your paths straight”, which I think is saying that He will help us out and make the road a little easier.
We don’t need to be worried about what’s coming down the road. We’ve got the Lord of the universe on our side.
God bless you and keep you safe in this crazy life we’re living in.
–Lydia
