Will a Man Ever Follow Directions? Part I

Several years ago I attended the funeral for the mother of a church family.  It was over two hours away and I needed directions for an unfamiliar area of West Virginia.  I was told to take the interstate to the area near Clarksburg and then follow the four-lane to Parkersburg.    Near there I was to turn on this small country lane and follow it for a few miles.  I was to look for a house with deer in the front and then look for a graveled country road on the right and go up the hill to the top and the little church and cemetery would be on the top. 

I have learned the hearer stops listening after seventeen seconds and you can imagine listening to these directions with Attention Deficit Disorder.  The word I focused upon was “deer”.   Growing up in Orlando I guessed the family had pet deer.  I found this small country road, which was so small our van and a pick-up truck passed each other with inches to spare.  I must have gone up and down the road several times and never found the deer but found the small lane and eventually the church.

After the funeral, I asked the daughter about the house with the deer and how she knew there would be deer in front of the house.  She had a small smile as she explained, “The family had left those white Christmas deer in front of the house for years and finally took them down.” 

It wasn’t the fact I did not ask for directions but in many rural roads in our state people navigate not by street signs or route numbers but identifying markers.  Houses, trees, barns, and even rivers and creeks mark the way for many.  Markers are good ways to navigate if you understand their importance.   A man can follow directions when he understands the importance of the markers in his life.   God tells us the stars are markers he placed to identify sacred seasons.  Men have markers God has placed in our paths—other Godly men.  I need to take instruction from them as I unlearn worldly ways in which I was raised for the ways of the new birth.  Men who have followed the paths of other Godly men and walk closely with the Lord are the markers for my life and the place I need to go to restart the journey if I get lost. 

I think of men like Dan, a godly older gentle-man who taught me patience and how to pray.  I learned from him humility and gentleness.  He was not perfect but was just being perfected and he became a marker for the Christian walk for me.  Thanks Dan.