This Is The Way

             Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)

 

            Today is one of those minor revelation days. For the past three years (or more) I have been procrastinating getting business cards to hand out as a writer. Part of the reason for my using a pseudonym was so that I could be invisible. Another part (I think) was so that I could distance my writing from me. “I didn’t write that. Allyn Ransom wrote it.” That was safe in two ways – if you don’t like me, I’m not the one who wrote the books, so you can like them. If you don’t like the books, I’m not the one who wrote them so you can like me. There’s logic there.

Another reason I didn’t get proper author’s business cards is that I don’t like the way I look. I look fat, ugly, old, stupid, tired – and very unauthorly. A fourth reason was that I’ve had the conviction that to sell my books or myself is arrogant, selfish, and otherwise bad. If you asked me to sell your books, I could do so with a clear conscience, but mine? That’s another matter. To me, it’s saying, “Look how great I am! You should reward me for being so magnificent.”

But I took pictures of myself on Sunday night and placed an order for business cards the same night. They’re on their way, and I’ve already set the goal of getting rid of them as quickly as possible because I’m sure I’ll hate them. I can get another, hopefully, better batch by handing them out.

What does this have to do with God showing us the way and telling us to walk in it? It fits today’s chosen verse because what I have gone through is an example of how God works. As I said, it’s a revelation day. Over the past three years, I have been weeding in my community. While some people discover this because they see me doing it. Others learn from neighbors. I told people I was doing it the first year I did it, and they could pay me if they wanted. The second year, I said, I’ll do it if you pay me, and what you pay me is up to you. This year, I announced that I would do it for $X/hour. 

What does any of this have to do with today’s passage? If it had not been for my father’s illness, I would never have come to Florida and might never have seriously gotten back into writing. If I had not come here after he died, during a COVID epidemic that made it impossible for Canadians to join me, I probably would never have started weeding (and  you can pay me if you want), which means I would never have weeded (if you pay me.) And if I had never weeded if you paid me, I would never have offered my services this year at $X/hour.

And as I whined this morning about how I’ve finally ordered business cards and how impossible it is that I can “advertise myself” in that way, God cleared His throat and pointed back to the announcement I made that I could weed for $X/hour. Somehow, that wasn’t so terrible. Sometimes, He guides us to walk in a way without telling us, “This is the way; walk in it” until after we’ve been on the road for a while.