“In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death.” Proverbs 12:28 NASB

It may not surprise those of you who have followed my life through the years to know one of my favorite things to do on this earth is to go somewhere I have never been before. I get so excited when Dan invites me along to pick up a tool or a ‘whatsit’ he has purchased from Facebook Marketplace, and the location is an area of Pittsburgh we have never been. He laughs to see my huge excitement.

Josiah used to groan when, while driving him home from school in Chiang Mai I would get fed up with heavy traffic on the main road and deftly turn and follow other cars turning off the highway, to ‘another way’. Cars filled with Thai people who knew exactly where they were going. Me, having no idea, but my adrenalin was pumping because I was going to find a NEW WAY HOME!! He knew that this new way would inevitably involve driving down the back alleys of wet markets, inching to pass other vehicles on lanes only meant for bikes and rickshaws, eventually coming to a road that Mom would recognize so that we could proceed home. I would delight to show him new sights, new noodle stands, and roadside bbq chicken with sticky rice that we could pick up for dinner.

New pathways can be exhilarating. They can also be frightening when they are forced upon us, rather than chosen. There are times in our lives when a new pathway is forced upon us. Our chosen pathway is blocked, interfered with, or destroyed all together. Cancer. Heart attack. Job loss. Death in the family. Pandemic.

Whatever our response is to the thought of a new pathway, whether it be chosen or forced upon us, one thing is always true: The Lord calls us from His word and says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in everything, and HE will make your paths straight.”

Already I can sense that 2021 is truly going to be a different year from the one just past. New pathways are opening ahead. A vaccine speedily making its way around the world so that, in the near future we will be able to remove our masks, move in closer together with those we love and long for. We will walk in a new and different way.

Let us therefore, with our faith in Him who knows the way, walk into our new pathways with joyful anticipation and not dread. For the Lord, He is good. And He knows the way home.

~ Debbie Ecker