Making Our Way Through the Labyrinth of Life

© Stephane Tougard | Dreamstime.com

Have you ever been in a labyrinth? It's a maze of paths that you must navigate through, with many confusing twists and turns and dead-ends. Even with a good memory and sense of direction, it is easy to get disoriented and lose your way. The paths start looking the same - you can't tell if it's a new road or if you've circled back onto one you've already been on. My husband and I raced another couple through a cornfield maze a number of years ago. They opted to go through the maze backwards, starting at the exit while we went in through the entrance. After the initial excitement and burst of adrenaline wears off, you realize the hard work of making your way through the confusing paths. It requires a lot of doubling back. Most roads come to an end. You find yourself alone in a confusing place. It is harder and takes a lot longer to get through than you imagined. At some point, panic may build as you feel stuck and utterly lost and disoriented. As we went deeper into the maze, all other voices disappeared and we were totally on our own. Then it started to rain. Thank God it was the summer time! Sloshing through mud and trying to keep hysteria at bay, we somehow found ourselves finally at the end. We made it through. Dripping wet, our pant legs covered in mud, we found our friends sitting in their car. Clean and dry. Chatting away as they waited for us, claiming that they had found their way through the maze before the rain hit. Harumph. To this day, I have my doubts about that. Life has been a labyrinth of sorts. The path of employment came to a sudden end last year, and we found ourselves navigating through layers of obstacles as well as opportunities that led to other unforeseen pathways. None yet leading to the exit of this confusing maze. Even the path we are currently on continues to throw obstacles and challenges, some rain and mud, on us as we plow our way through. And yet, I am the one that always said I didn't like the predictable and easy. That I was the pioneer, off-the-beaten track type of person. Though I am eating my words a little bit and want to take a nice long nap and wake up when this is all over, I will not give up. Like I did years ago in that corn maze, I am going to take a deep breath to calm the rising hysteria, cry a bit if I have to, holler some to get tension out, and find the way, no matter what. God is still on the throne. He is my ultimate Navigator and the Guarantor of my sanity. He Who holds the Universe together can manage to hold my life together as I continually yield it to Him. I may come out looking a little rough on the other side. But we will weather this season and overcome the challenges and the uncertainties with God's help.