Snakes and Alligators

“Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.” --- Psalm 105:4 NLT

I recently took my boys to a forested park that surrounds a winding, boggy creek. It is a local hotspot for bird watchers. And it just happens to also be a home for alligators. There are trails that wind their way through the forest and along the creek banks. Sometimes the trails are up to 6 feet wide, the path is easily seen and is wide open on either side with clear sky above. At other times, the trail is as narrow as a bike tire; the wood grasses hug close at either side of your feet and a fifty foot ceiling of pine forest towers overhead.

It doesn’t take long once you enter this green jungle of a maze to get lost in the details. My kids roared into the main leg of the trail with excitement and a clear vision of what was ahead. The steady sound of birds chirping all around and twisting trees throughout were enticing to the senses. But they soon became disenchanted with the unknown as the trail became more difficult to walk. As the walk became more taxing on their bodies, their emotions became more affected by what their senses were grabbing. Instead of excitement for a sound they heard or a movement in the trees, it became a nervous “what was that?!” or “did you see that?!”

Luckily for them, I had already been on this trail before. I had already experienced the change and the slight sensory deprivation. I was already accustomed to that feeling of looking down a tight trail and thinking every stick across the path was a cottonmouth. And even better for them was that I had my smartphone in hand with maps of the trails and GPS showing me exactly where I was at. I knew the path. As long as they stayed close to me they would eventually get back to the truck.

New Christians and more experienced Christians alike will sometimes get distracted in life. They may get on a trail they have never been on and experience some hardships along the way. Some may stir up their souls and release emotional anxieties. Perhaps there are specific difficulties or sins that they are dealing with that find them back in an exhausted position of dire need and difficulty. Such is this path of life. Sometimes the redbirds on wide trails are replaced with mosquito infested turns near alligator laden, muddy waters. But in either case, the Owner of the forest of life knows the path because He created it. And He created the path you are on specifically for you; every inch of it.

The magic to life is in the search for God. After all, He created it, so we should expect that searching diligently for Him would uncover hidden treasures. He has already laid them before us. It’s not as much about the details but about what God shows us in them. You will never truly understand those details unless you seek Him continually. You will never have the strength you need in the difficult parts of the journey without continually searching for Him. The verb “continually” here means just that-never stopping. He won’t make you find Him. He prepares the journey and wants you to desire to search for Him in the details. March on! There is much to discover in Him.