Straight Roads

Welcome to a blog that probably won't make much sense!

You see, I've been writing the third installment of my fantasy series, and without my knowing it, the Lord inspired me to write a scene based off of Proverbs 3:5-6:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

Sooooo, I thought I'd share it. The details (like why Mari and her elderly sidekick - Miss Lili - are on a quest, and why they're wandering around in the middle of nowhere) aren't super relevant to the excerpt, so just try to overlook any confusion you have.

Try to focus on the descriptions and how it makes you feel, okay?

Oh, and I guess this is worth noting: the Three are representing the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and Ahsah is the magical realm where much of Mari's story takes place...

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Simply put, they were in the middle of nowhere. The road was the only object of interest in sight, what with no trees or houses or even hills to break up the flat sameness of the landscape. Without knowing how long they’d been flying—it was hard to keep track of time when Ahsah encounters occurred—it was impossible to tell where they were, but if she went by how Kansas was depicted in The Wizard of Oz, then that was her hypothesis: they were in Kansas, or somewhere in the flat, dry, tornado-alley part of the country.

While Mari was looking this way and that, Miss Lili meandered back to the middle of the road.

“Hey! What’re you—”

Not bothering to finish, Mari rushed out to meet her, eager to drag her off before a car crushed them both. Lili wouldn’t budge though, just planted her feet squarely on the double yellow lines, and pointed, wordlessly, to the path that this straight-as-an-arrow road paved.

What, is she becoming a mime or something? Mari grumbled to herself, flabbergasted by her chatterbox of a friend’s sudden silence.

“Miss Lili, we gotta—” she wasn’t moving, no matter how hard she pulled on her arm, “what’re you…”

Then she spotted it. Way down the road, barely discernable if not for Lili’s pointing towards it, was a faded mark on the pavement. No longer sporting its pristine, white-painted finish, the arrow that graced the asphalt looked small and insignificant from afar. But Mari knew—in that strange sense she was developing—that the Three wanted them to follow the arrow.

Miss Lili turned to look at her. Oh yeah, she had that gleam in her eyes again. It was clear that Lili sensed their guidance too.

Without another word—who needed to bother with words when they were so attuned to each other and the Three?—Mari and Lili set off, walking along the yellow line, towards the arrow and the sun-setting sky.

They walked for what seemed like miles, adhering to the curveless road with their gazes locked on the sky, even as the sun disappeared and darkness rose up to meet them. At some point, Lili suggested that they make camp and get some sleep, so that’s what they did. Thankfully, it didn’t rain again, because they hadn’t brought a tent, just a blanket to share.

The next morning, Mari woke up to the sight of a new dawn—light oranges and deep purples danced across the sky and she wished, as she so often did, that she had a paint brush to capture it—and sighed in delight. Her and Miss Lili shared pleasantries, ate a hearty breakfast of baby carrots and popcorn, repacked their bags, and returned to their sojourning status.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, the scenery around their still-straight road shifted, replacing barren ground with patches of green every once in a while. Slowly and steadily, these patches became more frequent, until finally, green replaced the dusty browns entirely. Then hills entered the scene, their road remaining unwaveringly straight despite its ascending and descending now.

When fields and flowers added to the mix, Mari couldn’t help but marvel at how diverse one single path could be; she couldn’t believe that faded arrow had led them all the way out here.

As the sun began setting, yet again, they made it to their destination.

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Friends, when we put our faith in Christ, He becomes the arrow that directs us on the Way, Truth, and Life (John 14:6). He makes our paths smooth, straight, and endurable - whether we're walking through barren lands, green pastures, hills, or valleys - because His Spirit empowers us to endure more than we can possibly imagine (Proverbs 3:6).

Whatever scenery is present along your road right now, as long as you keep to His path, you're safe.

Always and eternally safe with Him.