Life's Maze

How do we get lost in our own lives? Why do we try to get lost in our own lives? To dig ourselves so deep into a deadend path of our own design that we can’t see the sky, the sun. We cover ourselves in the foliage of the trees we can’t reach with our shears. The trees that were planted when we began serving God, as a reminder of our growth in him.

God planted the trees as He shared with us that the trees were representative of our walk with him, of our growth, and ministry in His name. He planted them in the shape of a maze, then we began walking through it.

For a while, the trees were small enough that we could easily prune them, and keep them trimmed so that the sky, and the sun were visible and we could easily make out the next path to take, feel the sun on our face, and the wind in our hair. As we grew, and the trees matured, they became taller, tall enough to get in the way of where the next turn was going to take us, but we could still see the sun, and feel the wind, guide ourselves by them; it was just as well as being able to see where to go next over the trees, so it was okay to leave them like that. Then the trees continued to grow, uninhibited, because we could no longer reach even the shortest branches to trim and let in the sun and the breeze. This began to be a little too much, now, on top of not being able to see ahead to the next turn, we could no longer even see the sun or feel the breeze on our faces. Confused, we looked around us and thought, “How did this happen, I thought that God promised me that when I gave my life to him, he would lead me and guide me, and he would love me and stay by me as I continued to grow. But these trees He planted, these trees of my service and dedication and relationship to him, have grown over the path, and I have no idea where to go now, I might as well get rid of these shears I’ve been trying to use to trim the pathway, they do me no good.” We drop the shears on the path, and decide to continue moving forward, hoping we are going in the right direction.

For a while we walk, aimlessly, crying out to God and saying, “God, What is wrong, I love you, I’ve been following you, and I’ve been growing in you. Why are you no longer showing me the way to go?”

There is silence, and we despair of ever being able to see or hear from God again, almost to the point of giving up, we continue trudging and suddenly, a small shaft of light is visible coming through the tops of the trees ahead of us. We run to where it falls upon the path and bask in the warmth, and comfort of the sun shining through the branches. Looking up, we hear a still, small voice.

“My child.”

That is all.

Then we notice up ahead, there is another clearing in the trees, we run toward that one, and again stand basking in the rays of the warmth of the sun. Farther up another, then another, so we continue running forward turning corners towards places where more and more areas are opening up for the sun to shine through. We continue moving farther, and farther down the path, turning corners, and passing turnoffs, paying attention to where the sun is shining on the path ahead of us. Then, we notice that the path ahead is almost entirely void of branches now, as if they were being pruned from on top of the trees, and glance at other paths, noticing they still have no sun shining in them. It seems obvious to us to continue down the only path that the sun is shining on, so we continue that way for an unknown period of time, not really knowing where we are going or when we will get there, and not really caring, because the sun is shining on us and the wind is refreshing us. Eventually, a voice interrupts the silence previously only filled by the rapturous sounds coming from us in thanks, and hope brought on by the feel of the sun on our bodies and the newly felt breaze on our faces.

“I love you, I have never forsaken you.”

And suddenly we know.

The trees were too high for us to reach.

Our walk with God had gotten to the point where we put down strong roots in Him, and the trees of our relationship and ministry flourished. As the time moved on, when the trees became too high for us to reach, we had someone who could trim the trees all along.God had been waiting the entire time we walked around aimlessly for us to let go of the shears that we were trying to use to maintain our relationship with God. It was when we let them go, that God was able to grasp them in His powerful hands and use them to carve out an opening for us to see and feel the sun and wind.

This thought was too much for us. That we had been walking for that long, trying to trim the trees ourselves, feeling overwhelmed with the weight of trying to keep up, and not knowing what to do when the branches got too high.

“God, Forgive me for not paying better attention. I’m sorry I wasted so much time trying to figure it out myself.”“My child, don’t you realize? The entire time you were walking around the maze, I never lost you.

You were lost in me.I

was in the trees surrounding you, I was in the branches covering you. I was always there. You were with me the entire time, as I was with you. You were just unable to feel my warmth and the refreshment I was waiting to carve out for you because you held on to the shears. I have cherished every moment with you, even in the dark times, when you felt as if you were wandering aimlessly, for even then, I knew where you were heading. I was simply waiting for you to realize you could not do it on your own, for you to give up the control of the trimming, so I could show you how I could work in your life and on the path of our relationship.”

We realize, now, that those times of walking down darkened paths, and those times of stagnant air were necessary in our walk with God. The sun and wind we had taken for granted when we first began our walk. It was the times of dark and stagnancy that allowed us to see the true glory in the presence of the sun and wind in our lives.

We vowed then, never again to take for granted the sun and wind in our lives. And we vowed to never again try to take the shears in our own hands. Then God spoke once again to us.

“My beloved, I love you more than you can fathom. I will walk with you always, but I know you. There will be times when we are growing closer, when our ministry and work will flourish. Then you will decide you can try to prune the trees again, and I will let you. You will once again go through a time when you are unable to reach the branches, and the path will close above you, and you will not feel the sun or wind. Then you will drop the shears once more and allow me to prune the trees, and you will once again feel hope, and my sun and wind. Know that this will happen and keep your watch for those times, then the times of dark and stagnancy will become shorter and shorter, as you draw nearer and nearer to me. Never lose hope, and never give up.

Shall we continue on this journey together?”