Faith is a Maze

I remember buying one of those maze books for my daughter when she was little.

I explained to her that she had to start at the beginning and get to the finish on the page. She frowned at the paper, took the pencil in her hand and drew a straight line from the beginning to the end! She ignored all the “walls” and “dead-ends”. Then, she threw the book down like, “Well, that was a waste of time.”

I laugh when I remember it and when I look at her adult self, I can see that she pretty much still lives her life that way. She jumps before looking. She pushes through pain and illness to get more done in a day than I could in a month. Walls and dead ends don’t faze her. She views them as temporary setbacks and she shoves against them until they shatter.

Her faith is that way too. She believed from a young age and her strong-willed personality allowed her to stand firm in the face of peer pressure. She walked a straight path without veering from it.

Personally, mazes freak me out. I have no sense of direction and I get lost if my husband takes a different route home from the grocery store. So, corn mazes or tall hedge mazes are a big no for me. I would be hopelessly confused after a few steps inside.

On paper, I am the type of person who tries to look ahead at the whole maze before I move my pencil. If I didn’t “cheat”, I’m afraid my page would look like a hyperactive kindergartener on a sugar-high tried to do it. People would wonder what kind of person kept crashing into the same walls and why, when one way clearly didn’t lead anywhere, did I take that same path again and again?

It occurred to me recently how much mazes resemble life. I often follow paths that seem right, only to find that they lead me to dead ends. And, how often have I crashed into brick walls when my way seemed clear?

My faith walk has not been the same as my daughter’s. While she makes her way through barriers and always “finishes” in a timely manner, I veer in every direction, bouncing off walls and making mistakes every few feet.

And, God sees it all. He sees my messy “page” with all the wrong turns. He knows how I struggle to find my way. He must get so frustrated waiting for me to look up and ask for help. He must roll His eyes as I bang into walls and hit the same dead ends repeatedly.

Still, He waits. He knows eventually I will tire and ask for direction.

There are those who can run a maze without a single wrong turn and there are those who crash through them willy-nilly, covering the page with unnecessary pencil lead.

The good news is: He loves us all.