At many high school cross country meets, there is a place on the course
where the runners come to a fork in the path. The first time through,
the runners go one direction, then run a circuit, and when they come to
the fork again, they go the other direction.
There is never a sign at the fork telling the runners which direction
they should choose. Instead, the runners receive a map of the course,
and they jog through the route before the race. They make a plan for
the race and review the decisions they will need to make while running
it. If the course is particularly tricky, the coach will station
himself at the intersection to give the team members direction.
Sometimes his runners don’t hear him, and he has to shout loudly to
them.
In our own lives we seldom find signs that give plain instructions for
our decisions. Like the cross country team we may have thought through
our lives and made plans for the decisions we will make. But unlike the
race course, our lives often have paths available that were not on the
map we drew for ourselves. When we come to these unexpected paths, it
is time for us to count on our coach to guide the way.
Do you have a voice telling you to choose one path over another, or
maybe to go back to the intersection and turn another way? Maybe your
coach is calling to you! Listen.
|