Meditation for Perfectionists – Sunday December 15, 2019

Along Unfamiliar Paths

Isaiah 42:16: “Along unfamiliar paths I will guide them.”

“My daughter’s life is such a mess right now,” said the mother of a young adult. “I want to tell her what to do, but I think God wants me to allow her to make her own choices this time. It’s hard for me to back off. I feel so lost, so uncomfortable!”

The middle-aged businessman sitting next to her nodded. “I think I understand,” he said. “I was passed over for a promotion again today. I’m disappointed, but also angry. I used to overwork or drink these feelings away. Now it all feels so funny, so strange, so unfamiliar!”

Changing destructive behavior patterns and the accompanying misconceptions lead us down a pathway that is unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and often frightening. We may have never tried to live without rescuing or controlling someone else. Some of us have never really experienced our own feelings. Perhaps we have never attempted to adjust to life without our ineffective methods of overworking, people pleasing, or alcohol abuse. In the unfamiliar changing process we may feel empty. But God is there even in the midst of the emptiness; we can walk through it with Him.

Lord, I will put my hand in yours
and let you direct me down this unfamiliar path.
You know what is up ahead.

Copyright Joan C. Webb

For more from Joan Webb visit www.joancwebb.com