I Am the Path

Several years ago, I was preparing to teach Courageous Faith at my church when I received difficult news regarding someone I deeply loved that rocked my world to the core. Caught completely off-guard, I didn’t know how I could possibly stand up in front of a room full of women I barely knew and teach God’s Word with an open, honest heart.

Confidentially, I shared the news with a close friend. I told her I just wanted to throw in the towel and isolate myself, but I knew God was calling me to do the work He’d given me to do and to trust Him to make a way for me.

She replied, “Kelly, I’m going with you. I won’t participate in the study, but I will pray for you … the whole time … I’ll do nothing but pray.”

That night, God covered me with a powerful sense of His presence, helping me connect my disjointed thoughts and share His Word and love with those women.

But that was only one night … how was I going to get through the next week or the next few months?

During this time another dear friend shared a story with me that brought a sense of fresh hope.

A missionary traveling to a small village located somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest hired a guide to help navigate the dense South American jungle. Progress was slow and tedious as each step through thick foliage had to be won by his machete-wielding guide.

As weariness began to set in, the missionary became concerned and anxious. Shouldn’t they have arrived by now? Everything looked exactly the same and the whacks of the guide’s machete seemed random and haphazard … were they traveling in circles?

Suspecting they were hopelessly lost, he finally asked the questions that were swirling through his mind, “How do you know we’re on the right path? How do you even know where the path is?”

The guide paused, met his gaze and without the slightest change in his facial expression, resolutely declared, “I am the path.”

His answer is powerful in its simplicity, but do you hear the implications?

I am the path … a path didn’t even exist without the guide – he was the source, the way, and the missionary’s only hope.

As I picture this powerful moment in my mind, I can’t help but think of Jesus’ words to his disciples as he prepared them for his crucifixion and departure.

“I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)

The disciples’ world was about to be rocked to its very core. The Messiah, the one who was performing miracles, healing the blind, and raising the dead was about to be taken from them. It wasn’t going to play out as they expected … how would they get through?

Jesus, in his tender compassion, tells them “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Yes, I’m going away, but I’m preparing a place for you. I will return and then I’ll bring you to your new home – your eternal home.”

Jesus answers all their questions with these words: “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

Powerful in its simplicity … but do you hear the implications?

Jesus is the way. The path to God doesn’t even exist without Jesus. He is our hope, our only trustworthy guide.

The next time we find ourselves in uncharted territory and we’re wondering which way to turn, may we fix our eyes on Jesus as we remember that the One who moves mountains has already gone before us, preparing a place just for us.

My hope is found in this one unshakeable truth: “I don’t have to know the way, I simply have to follow the One who is The Way.” Aren’t you grateful that He never leads us anywhere He hasn’t already been?

Thank you Jesus that You and You alone are the way, the truth and the life …