A Compass that Points North



"If there is a road I should walk, help me find it.
If I need to be still, give me peace for the moment.
Whatever your will, can you help me find it?"
-Sidewalk Prophets

Decision to go to college or join the military...
Decision to serve as a missionary or join the workforce...
Decision to marry or wait...
Decision to become a father through conception or adoption...

As young adults and being so "inexperienced" in the world, we sure have to make a bunch of large decisions in a relatively short time-frame.  I believe that decisions can feel heavy, burdensome, difficult, confusing.  Many of these decisions impact the lives that we choose to live, the people we meet, the hearts that we touch, and the environments that we influence.  Yes, these are BIG decisions.

Many are fortunate to have guiding influences in their lives to coach them through each of these decisions and moments in life.  In many cases, the advice is quite welcome.  In other cases, the advice can be too noisy and can appear like static. 

I have this image of myself walking through the woods, often being able to only see 50-100 yards in front of me due to the thickness of the brush.  Every once in a while, I reach a high point and I am able to look back at the past steps that I have taken while also getting a better image (maybe 200-300 yards of vision) of the steps to come.  However, once I plan a course from that high point with that great vision, I come back down to the level where I can only see 50-100 yards on front of me.  I wonder whether the path I have charted is correct.  I begin to have doubts and, in haste, I break into a run, hoping to get to the next high point where I can regain my vision.  The problem however, is the ground continues to slope downward and I become more desperate.  Tired and exhausted, I sit on a rock to catch my breath and rummage through my bag to grab a drink from my plastic Nalgene bottle.  As I blindly reach into my bag, the back of hand brushes against cold steel that seems to be about the size of a half dollar.  My fingers abort the mission of grabbing the water bottle and they close around this mysterious object, its cool touch providing a strange sense of relief to my overheated body.  I draw it out of the bag and inscribed on this piece of steel was:

"Psalm 27:4"

I could not recall the words of this verse, but I turned this small treasure over and I received instant comfort.  It was a compass, a device that would ALWAYS instruct me as to which way to go, no matter the path of my current circumstances.  This small artifact had a mind of its own, acting independently and always pointing in the same direction.  From this point on, it no longer mattered far I could see in front of me.  I had a treasure with me at all times, that could provide information as to the correct direction.  Furthermore, wherever I went, the compass went with me, pointing me to my final destination.  This destination I share with many, but my path is unique to me.  

My compass is with me always to guide me to home...to heaven.