I Want to Go Back!

(08/23/11)

This morning as I was driving my daughter to school, I heard her say, “Mommy, I want to go back to my old school.” This request is nothing new. It’s the same request I’ve been hearing for the last few weeks. Recently she moved to a new and much larger school with all new people to get to know; and she is missing her friends. That’s a hard transition for seven year old… a transition, unfortunately, that was needed. She has an incredible new teacher who is helping her in ways that her last teacher did not. She may not want to be where she is; but she needs to be there.

How many of us understand that feeling? How many times have we started down a path that we know God has led us to, but on the journey we find bumps, turns, potholes, and signs that seem to make no sense. We look around us and scream, “I want to go back!” We want to go back to the familiar… to that place where we became comfortable... where we knew what was happening, where we were, and everyone around us. God gives us the choice to return; and to our natural selves it feels good getting back into our comfort zone. Unfortunately, it’s not what we truly need. We need to stay with God… on the path that He chose; and that takes faith. That takes knowing that God is in control and He has our best interests at heart. God’s path isn’t always smooth, but we can be secure in the knowledge that we are not traveling alone.

Isaiah 43:18-19

John 8:12

Psalm 48:14