Kathi Pelton
Our family is from Santa Rosa, California, where massive fires occurred this past October leaving thousands of homes burned and miles of areas unrecognizable. After the fires, we visited our hometown and drove through the area that was hit the hardest. It was the neighborhood where we raised our children and owned a home; it contained the park that we often relaxed and played in; it was where our sister and her family lived and where some of our dearest friends lived. And it was all gone.
As we drove through the streets, trying to find the home that we had owned, we became disoriented and confused. Every familiar landmark, house, and tree was gone. Even many street signs were melted away. When we found our old driveway (the house was gone), it did not even resemble what we knew it had looked like. All of the trees were gone—the redwood trees, the oak trees; and every sign of life had been incinerated. Every neighbor’s house was gone too. We found ourselves unsure if we were in the right place until we saw the address number painted on the curbside. Finding our way apart from the old and familiar landmarks was like trying to find our way in a foreign land.
Yesterday I spoke with Garris Elkins about this strange journey “home” and how it made me realize that we must have our familiarity and direction in Jesus in order to find our way in this world; especially in this new season. The world is ever-changing, but our God never shifts or changes. He is our “true north”. He is our one constant and sure marker on our journey “home.”
The entire body of Christ has experienced a shift and it happened about the same time as those fires (as we passed through Rosh Hashanah). What we knew before, and how we functioned before, no longer was relevant. It was a time of laying everything down, submitting ourselves to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and yielding our lives anew to His directions and His “markers” for this new season.
Like the address number on the curb that confirmed our location, so Jesus is the marker that we continually look to as we find our way. Our steps, our paths, our words, and our ways must be guided by Him alone.
“Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21
This is how we must walk! We must take His hand like a child traveling with their father, and walk step by step beside Him. We must listen to the Holy Spirit and obey each instruction, not going our own way—or even following the old, familiar ways. This is the path of blessing, fruitfulness, and abundant life. This is the obedience that brings heaven to earth. This is the life that reveals Jesus and brings light in the darkness.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19
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