I was quietly sitting with my eyes closed, having asked God to speak to me through what I call a visual encounter. Letting God use my mind/imagination to show me things He wants me to see. This day I saw round brown stepping stones scattered around in front of me. I watched myself step from one to another, back and forth, in no real order. When I looked up I saw a large beam of yellow light coming towards me in a straight line. Suddenly a huge being came down out of the sky landing on the ground a few yards in front of me. The earth shook when he landed. I questioned if this was God, but he turned around and I saw several wings on his back. This giant angel started walking towards the source of the light and with each step the ground shook. I then heard the words........"Follow the yellow brick road."
The yellow brick road. I love it when God uses the familiar to get His point across. Sometimes Joel and I feel like we are just hopping from one stone to another with little direction. And then God sends us a clear message of what His plan is and we find ourselves saying..."Are you sure, Lord?" Are you sure this is what you want us to do? Maybe we will just go back to what was comfortable, wandering from stepping stone to stepping stone, a bit like the Israelites in the wilderness. Is this the right path....maybe this is.......And then God says, "Follow the yellow brick road". Follow that beam of light beckoning to us from God Himself.
Have you heard the story about a man who fell off a cliff, but was able to hang on to a branch sticking out of the side to keep himself from crashing. He asked God for help and heard.........."Let go of the branch". He asked again and got the same answer. The man then said, "Is there anyone else out there?" God's response required some big time trust and made no sense. Maybe someone else had a better idea?
Sometimes God requests us to do something that does not make a lot of sense at the time. He asks us to trust Him whether we understand the purpose or not. In His word we read................."For I have plans for you, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11). That is what we hang on to.
I remember when we were sure God wanted Joel to get an "early out" of the Air Force, move to St. Paul and go to seminary. We visited friends at Luther Sem and were so sure it was God's plan we spent time looking for a house to buy and found one by a grade school and close to the Seminary. We almost put in an offer but decided to wait until Joel got the papers releasing him from the Air Force. We went home and Joel went it to fill out the paperwork for an early out. The clerk, said, "You can't get an early out, you have orders!" Joel was surprised to say the least, but asked...."Where am I going?" The clerk said, "The Philippine Islands." Joel was overdue for a remote one year tour without his family, so he asked if he was going accompanied or unaccompanied. The clerk said, "Accompanied". We then began the process of moving overseas to experience what turned out to be two of the most amazing and life changing years of our lives. We thought we had the path all figured out and were sure we knew what God had planned, but the "yellow brick road" led us to expand our family, meet friends for life, grow our faith, and experience living in a third world country.
The yellow brick road looks different for each of us, and at different times in our lives. God sees beyond ourselves to His plan for His children and He asks us to follow Him. Sometimes it is risky, sometimes it is confusing, sometimes it is glorious, but always it is best because His plan for us and for His world is good, not evil. Do you find yourself on a yellow brick road? If so, remember that God is leading the way. He asks us to follow him and trust him on our journey as we listen and watch for His directions. Just follow the yellow brick road....................
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