That path is as narrow as it looks. It’s about 8-10 inches wide! It wasn’t made by a tractor or a four-wheeler, it was made by cows! Did you know cattle travel on paths? How in the world do those big girls manage to walk these small, narrow paths? I mean, our girls are some big girls! Yet, you can look at our pastures and in the most traveled places, you will find these skinny trails. This particular path above, leads from one pasture to another and crosses a creek. Sometimes, especially in the winter, the cows will travel this route twice a day. The pasture on the other side of the creek is used as a winter pasture and is full of rich, green grass. The grass is so full of nutrients that we can’t let the cattle stay in there for very long. So every day, they are led across the creek and allowed to stay and graze for 2 hours and then led back out. Summer months are different and they tend to go back and forth as their taste buds or their desire for a particular shade tree catches their fancy. But every time they go from place to place, they travel this route, and no matter the reason they are travelling, they will walk that single path. Why? They follow the leader. Others before them made the path. The path leads them where they want to go. They have learned to trust the path.
These days we are so determined to do our own thing and make our own way that we have ignored the benefits of the path that is already there. Many of us are only where we are today because of the path that was laid before us. My parents and grandparents lived a certain way and taught me values and beliefs and those things got me to where I am today. I had to walk the path to where I am, but they “blazed the trail.” I hope and pray that I am doing the same things for my kids. Even now, I hope that the life that my husband and I have lived has given our children a path to follow that will make their futures easier.
Sometimes, when the moms are traveling from one pasture to the other, we watch the babies. The calves have not yet learned the path and they run along side their mothers or even run ahead with their friends. The cows will call out to the calves, but the moms stay on the path. They know that at the other end of the path there is feed or green grass. The babies run off and get sidetracked and distracted. Often by the time the calves make it to the feed trough, it’s empty or maybe there just isn’t any room to squeeze in. Sometimes the calf leaving the path even affects its mother… when the calf isn’t in line with the rest and is off the path, a good mother will wait for her calf. This causes both the cow and calf to be late to feed and both miss out because of it.
Aren’t we just the same? We know the way. We know the path. We can see it in front of us. But sometimes we get sidetracked or just want to do our own thing and we end up missing out on what He has for us at the other end of the path. We also end up affecting others along the way because we left the path. Matthew 7:13-14 says, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. ”
The narrow path leads to food. The narrow trail leads to best possible place to get water from the pond. That narrow path leads to life. It certainly doesn’t look like the easiest way to get their either. It most certainly couldn’t be the fastest! Who wants to walk in a single file line to get there? Let’s all just run ahead, full tilt, without a care in the world! But the easy way, leads to destruction and that is the way that most will choose.
If you looked at that pasture, you would think that it would be so easy for the cattle to get from one side to the other across that wide open space. But out in the open spaces of the pasture, there could be holes that would cause the cattle to stumble and possibly be injured as they travel to their destination.
Today, choose the narrow way. Choose to walk behind those that have gone before you. Choose the path that doesn’t seem obvious and that everyone isn’t on. Maybe you have been following a crowd or making your own path; find a mentor or a trusted friend that can lead you along the path. Find the trail that was blazed with you in mind and stay on it. My prayer today is that you find yourself on the path that God has designed for you, in His perfect will!
I am also praying that we will blaze the trail for those that are coming behind us. We need to make sure that the path stays open and clear for them. Someone made the path for us. Let us not allow it to grow up and become hidden. May we keep the path worn and visible and show others the way. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord and He will direct your paths.”
