Ponder the Path of Thy Feet

 

This morning as I was studying Proverbs 4:26, a memory came to my mind from when I was a young mother with six children, all under the age of eight. There were many days when I felt like I was simply moving from one thing to the next. There were children to get ready, meals to prepare, errands to run, and a hundred things that needed my attention.

One day I needed to go to the store to get some milk. I got in the car and started driving. The next thing I knew, I was sitting at the school. I had to laugh at myself because I had driven to the school so many times that apparently my car knew the way better than I did. I was on autopilot! I had intended to go to the store, but because I was so accustomed to driving to the school, that was the path I automatically took.

As I thought about that this morning, I realized how easily we can do the same thing in our lives. Sometimes we know where we want to end up. We know what kind of person we want to be, what matters most to us, and perhaps even the destination we are hoping to reach spiritually. But are we paying attention to the path we are taking to get there?

It is possible to become so accustomed to a certain way of living that we simply go through the motions. We can make choices out of habit without stopping to ask ourselves if those choices are actually taking us where we want to go. We can become so familiar with our routine that, just like I did when I ended up at the school, we can travel a path without really thinking about where we are going.

Another experience in my life gave this scripture a much deeper meaning for me. Not long after Kelly had passed away, I was driving through a neighborhood. My mind was somewhere else. I was grieving, thinking about everything that had happened, and simply not paying much attention to what was happening around me.

The next thing I knew, I was being pulled over by a policeman. As he approached my window, I remember saying, “What did I do?” I was completely unaware of anything I could have done wrong.

He told me that I had just driven right past a stop sign. I looked at him and said, “I never saw it.” And I hadn't. I truly had no idea there had even been a stop sign.

He was very kind to me and gave me a warning. I explained that my husband had just passed away and that I had been lost in my thoughts and wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. Afterward, I actually thanked him for pulling me over. He had made me aware of something I had completely missed, and I realized that missing that stop sign could have resulted in something much more serious than a warning.

I think there are times in our lives when we can be so distracted by what is happening inside of us that we fail to notice what is happening around us. Sometimes we are tired. Sometimes we are hurting. Sometimes we are worried or overwhelmed. And sometimes we are simply so familiar with the road we are traveling that we stop paying attention.

I think that is part of what the Lord is teaching us when He says, “Ponder the path of thy feet.” He isn't just asking us to think about our destination. He is asking us to pay attention to the path we are taking to get there.

Are the choices I am making leading me closer to the Savior? Are the things I am giving my time and attention to leading me toward the life I truly want? Am I so busy traveling my familiar path that I have stopped noticing the signs along the way?

Perhaps that is why we sometimes need to slow down and take an honest look at our lives. We may discover that we are headed in the right direction, but we may also discover that we have made a wrong turn somewhere along the way. The beautiful thing is that recognizing it gives us the opportunity to change our course.

I am grateful for the policeman who pulled me over that day. At the time, I probably just felt embarrassed that I had missed a stop sign. But looking back, I can see another lesson in that experience. Someone helped me recognize something I could not see for myself.

I believe the Lord does that for us in our lives as well. Sometimes He uses a prompting, a scripture, a conversation, an experience, or even another person to help us notice something we have been missing. It may be a gentle reminder to slow down, pay attention, or make a different choice.

The destination matters, but so does the path we take to get there. We don't want to simply arrive somewhere and realize that we traveled on autopilot the whole way. We want to be awake and aware, noticing the signs, making adjustments when necessary, and choosing a path that will bring us closer to the Savior.

Today, I am grateful for the reminder in Proverbs to “ponder the path of thy feet.” I want to slow down enough to notice where my feet are taking me and make sure the choices I am making today are leading me toward the destination I hope to reach tomorrow.