THE PARTING OF THE WAYS.
By Edison Driver
The other day, not knowing which of two roads led to a certain place, I asked a little girl who happened by, to direct me. The answer was given readily enough, but the child was so small I asked again, “Are you sure?” “Of course I’m sure,” replied the little one. “Why, I can just see their house way, way down there now!” The house was not in sight, but the little girl, standing there at the beginning of the long road, could really see in her mind what was at its end; and I thought as I went on, What a glorious world this would be if people could only see the end of all roads as clearly as she saw the end of that one. Often, very often, we have stood at the parting of two ways, hesitating, not knowing which to take; and sometimes we have taken the wrong way because we could not see its end from the beginning. Every day, and hundreds of times every day, we are called on to decide. We ask ourselves, “Shall I do this or that? will it not be better to go than to stay? which subject shall receive my attention? what shall I say? had I better buy this article or not?” Such thoughts bring us to forks in the road, to places where our successes and our failures are all decided,—if we were wise enough, they would all be successes. If men could see the end of each undertaking when they start it, all would be successful men. Armies would not march to defeat, they would never fall into ambuscades; there would be no financial distress, no blasted hopes, no accidents, no calamities, no misfortunes. Instead, there would be health and happiness; and this old earth would now be blossoming as the garden of Eden, had Eve seen the end, as she stood at the parting of the ways by the tree so long ago. But see it she did not, for she would not. Tho God had told her clearly what the end would be, she closed her eyes to fact, and falsehood took its place. It is not in man’s power to see the end of any way from its beginning. Solomon says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death,” and Jeremiah expresses the same thought, “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Christ puts it in this way: “Without Me ye can do nothing.” True, the lamp of experience guides men somewhat; but when the new or the unforeseen happens, that light goes out, and the man who depended on it feels the need of a better guide. We all acknowledge that our wisdom, knowledge, and experience are extremely limited and narrow, and it is this acknowledgment that lies at the foundation of all worship. Every prayer may be summed up in the words, Help us, for we can not help ourselves. Christ achieved success at every point, and yet He said, “Of Mine own self I can do nothing.” “Nothing” is absolute. Many times Christ repeated that statement in different forms to His questioners; He wanted them and us to see and understand, that, so far as His personal wisdom and strength went, they were merely the wisdom and strength of a man; He wanted to make it clear that the power and judgment He exercised were obtained in the same way we may obtain them. As a man Jesus stood at the parting of the ways, but He said, “He that sent Me is with Me.” He who sent Christ knows the end of every way from the beginning, and through Isaiah’s pen has promised, “The Lord shall guide thee continually.” That is how Christ was able to live a perfect and altogether successful life. The same hand that led Christ is stretched forth to lead us,—to lead us not only in the great affairs of life, but in every detail that comes with the passing moment. And when He does so lead, it will be to continued victory and success. It does not matter how many failures we have had, how many mistakes we have made, how foolish we have been—these things count for nothing. These things should only lead us to acknowledge with Christ, “Of mine own self I can do nothing.” When we have learned that, the way lies clear before us: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” No longer the insufficient experience, no longer the erring judgment, no longer the sorrows of defeat; for the parting of all the ways will be but partings to greater and yet greater joys. “I have learned the wondrous secret of abiding in the Lord;
I have found the strength and sweetness of confiding in His word;
I have tasted life’s pure fountain, I am trusting in His blood,
I have lost myself in Jesus, I am sinking into God. “For my words I take His wisdom, for my works His Spirit’s power,
For my ways His gracious presence guards and guides me every hour.
Of my heart He is the Portion, of my joy the ceaseless Spring;
Saviour, Sanctifier, Keeper, glorious Lord and coming King.”