The Rugged Road

“He leads me in paths of righteousness...” —Psalm 23:3

Some years ago, a fishing buddy of mine told me about Louie Lake, an alpine lake located high on the north flank of Jug Handle Mountain here in Idaho. Rumor had it that large cutthroat trout lurked up there. He got a pencil and scrap of napkin and drew a map for me. Several weeks later I gassed up my truck and set out to follow his directions.

His map put me on one of the worst roads I’ve ever driven! It was an old logging road that had been bulldozed through the forest and never re-graded. Washouts, fallen timber, runnels, deep ruts and large rocks battered my spine and bent the undercarriage of my truck. It took half a morning to reach my destination and when I finally arrived I asked myself, “Why would a friend send me up a road like that?”

But the lake was magnificent and the fish were indeed large and scrappy! My friend had put me on the right road, one I would have chosen myself and patiently endured had I known what I knew at the end.

Here’s a faithful saying: God leads us in the right path (Psalm 23:3). Some paths are rough and rugged; others tedious and tiresome. Yet when we come to the end of our journey and know what we then will know, we will say, “God’s path was best for me.” 

He chose this path for thee;

Though well he knew sharp thorns would pierce thy feet,

Knew how the brambles would obstruct the way,

Knew all the hidden dangers thou wouldst meet,

Knew how thy faith would falter day by day;

And still the whisper echoed, ‘Yes, I see

This path is best for thee.’

He chose this path for thee;

What needst thou more? This sweeter truth to know,

That all along these strange, bewildering ways,

O’er rocky steeps and where dark rivers flow,

His loving arms will bear thee all the days.

A few steps more, and thou thyself shalt see

This path is best for thee.

David Roper

10.4.14