Rick Snyder

First Presbyterian Church

June 6, 2004

How to Keep Your Path Straight: Some Words for Graduates

Proverbs 3:5-6, Matthew 7:13-14, II Timothy 4:7

The hardest race I ever ran was a mini-eco-challenge near San Francisco back in 1974. The race began at the entrance to a steep, logging trail. Bang! The gun sounded and three hundred of us charged up the trail towards the 4500' summit. Soon we were too busy gasping for breath to enjoy the beautiful woods. We labored upwards for what seemed to be an eternity. Every time we rounded a bend, another steep climb stretched before us. It took us nearly three miles to reach the summit. And then the real fun began. We had to descend the mountain to the Pacific Ocean, without a trail.

So down we crashed through dense woods. A runner in front of me sprained his ankle and careened into a bush. I waded through thick brambles, uttering a few words I can't repeat. Down we descended, over rocks, through bushes, lost amid Ponderosa Pines and fir trees. Finally we staggered onto the beach, and struggled through 600 yards of sand to the finish, where we collapsed in the surf thinking, "Never again!"

The worst part of that run wasn't laboring up the logging trail, though our thighs ached and our lungs burned. Nor was it stumbling through the sand with rubbery legs, praying just to finish. The worst part of that run was being off the path, feeling lost, unsure of where we were, where we were going, and how far we had to go. How we longed for a secure path so we could avoid the brambles, the loose rocks, and the holes, which threatened to twist our ankles.

Let me suggest that that race is a metaphor for life. Most often, thank God, life is good. I've always liked this prayer written by a ten-year old Iowa girl named Ann,

Dear Lord, thank You for my life. Thank You for chocolate frosting and for

piles of crunchy leaves. Thank You for Grandma Nell and the books she reads me. Thank You for Zelda, my cat, how she crawls up, limp, beside me and purrs. Thank You for Mrs. Leonard, my crossing guard, who always smiles and says something nice. Thank You for mom and dad, for my cozy black and gold Iowa sweatshirt, and for my comforter that my Aunt Sue made. And yes, Lord, I even thank You for my little brother.

Love, Ann

Life is a wonderful adventure filled with countless blessings -- chocolate frosting, crunchy leaves and loving grandmothers. But like that race, life can also be hard, sometimes very hard. Jesus tells His disciples, "It rains on the just and the unjust alike." Each of us, for example, will face rejection--we may pour our heart and soul into a relationship, but it doesn't work out. Or we will take a stand and be harshly criticized.

Each of us will lose friends and loved ones. A couple of years ago a close friend in my old Presbytery passed away after a ten-year battle with breast cancer. We were in the same confirmation class, youth group and High School graduating class. Even in High School, Brenda was passionate and fiery, never afraid to voice her opinions. While serving in Kalamazoo, she persuaded this established, middle-class church to open a clinic for street people. So into this historic, cathedral-like church, poured men with ragged clothing and week-old beards, and women of the streets. Brenda left behind a husband and young daughter. Her death wasn't fair, but death is a part of life.

Each of us will experience disappointment. One of our cherished dreams doesn't come true. We fail at some task, even though we've given our best. One of our friends drops us when we really need them. Disappointment, too, is part of life. Life, like that crazy race in California, can be hard, sometimes very hard.

But though life can be hard, God challenges us to run the race to completion. The Apostle Paul tells his young disciple Timothy, "I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished the race." Every athlete knows the importance of finishing strong. If we don't guard our opponent in the final seconds, if we dump our 7 iron into the woods on number 18, if we ease up in the final leg of the 400 freestyle relay, all our efforts may be wasted. A good coach won't let you stop practicing the week before State because, "You're doing pretty good."

Sadly very few of God's leaders in Scripture finish well. King David commits adultery with Bathsheba. Judas betrays his Lord for thirty pieces of silver. Peter, the chief of the disciples, brags, "I won't deny you, Master." But before the rooster crows three times, Peter denies Jesus, and for a time drops out of the race. Life, like a race, can get very difficult. But friends, finish whatever race life gives you! Don't give up, or give in. Remember that God is with you, no matter what challenge you face!

But listen now to a wonderful assurance from God. As we run this race called "life," God desires to give us a path to follow. Listen to our text, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight." God doesn't want us to get lost. He doesn't want us to get off the narrow path that leads to life. He wants us to guide us along a path that will give us a meaningful life today, and eternal life tomorrow. And He will guide us along this path--all we need to do is ask!

"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart" -- trust that He loves you, that He created you as a unique and unrepeatable miracle of His grace. Trust that He is, and will always be, by your side. He will never leave you, nor forsake you. Trust that He will forgive your sins as you repent, that each and every day you can start fresh, knowing the grace of a second chance. Trust that He will give you strength when you are weak, guidance when you are confused, and courage when you are afraid. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart!

"Lean not on your own understanding." If we ask, God is always ready to give us wisdom and understanding, wisdom deeper than our cleverness, an understanding to which even experience can't compare.

One of my close friends led a group of mid-highs on a canoe trip in northern California. About half an hour after they set out, Ken began feeling uncomfortable. But the day was sunny; the stream placid and the scenery breath taking. But Ken's feeling of discomfort kept growing. So he began praying, and the message inside his head grew louder and louder. It felt as if the Lord was saying, "Turn back. Now!"

You can imagine the reaction from the group. But Ken stopped the group, and had them turn back. Fifteen minutes later the weather abruptly changed. Temperatures plummeted. The stream grew rough. Hail began to fall. By the time the group reached the lodge, many of the group were so chilled and exhausted that workers from the lodge literally had to carry them inside. If the group had kept going ten more minutes, they might all have perished. God gave Ken wisdom from on high. That is what made the difference. So thankfully God promises us in His word, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he or she should ask God, who gives generously without finding fault." Lean not on your own understanding!

"In all your ways acknowledge Him." Come to depend on God for the large and the small matters of life. Be passionately committed to Him, not just on Sundays or when it is culturally acceptable. Put God first in your life.

I'm always amazed by the passion of our Lord as He cleanses the Temple. Jesus enters the Temple in Jerusalem, and finds moneychangers fleecing the poor peasants. He is so outraged that He overturns their tables, sending coins clattering onto the floor. Then he takes a whip and drives them out, crying, "My Father's house is to be a house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves." That's passion! Before He feeds the 5000, Jesus gazes at the lost, milling crowds, and has "compassion," a word that literally means "intestines." Jesus feels so deeply for the crowd that His very insides hurt. That's passion.

Graduates, those who make a difference aren't necessarily the brightest or the most talented; they aren't necessarily those whom the yearbook lists as "most likely to succeed." They may not score a 34 on the ACT or graduate as valedictorian. The people who make a difference are the ones with passion, zeal, commitment, and the willingness to go the extra mile. When our world has terrorists so zealous for their cause that they strap dynamite to their bodies, and conspire to hijack airplanes, may we be equally zealous in our desire to serve God. "In all your ways acknowledge Him."

"And he will make your paths straight." Here is the great hope and promise. If we do things God's way, He will guide us and help us along life's path. He will use us to make a difference. We will have the joy of knowing that our lives count, that we are having an impact. But notice something: Our text doesn't say, "He will make your path easy. You won't face problems or hardships." It says: God will direct you, like an arrow, on the path that is right, for Him and for us.

Back in 1921, a Swedish missionary couple named David and Svea Flood felt called to take the gospel to a remote region of Africa, in what is now Zaire. But life was hard. The village chief forbade them to evangelize. In fact, the Floods had contact with only a young boy, who sold them chickens and eggs. But Svea succeeded in leading him to Christ. Then Svea became pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter, but lacking medical care, she died seventeen days later. Due to the stress, David snapped. He buried Svea, returned to the coast, and declaring, "I can't take care of a baby," he gave his daughter to American missionaries. Furious with God, he returned to Sweden.

In time, the American missionaries went home to South Dakota, with the little girl they named Aggie. Aggie grew up, attended Bible College in Minneapolis, and there met and married a young man named Dewey Hurst. Years passed. The Hursts enjoyed ministry. Aggie became a mother. Ultimately her husband became president of a Christian college in Seattle, attended by many of Scandinavian descent.

One day a Swedish religious magazine appeared in Aggie's mailbox. She didn't know who sent it, or why. But as she turned the pages, she saw a photo of a grave with a white cross bearing her mother's name--SVEA FLOOD. A professor translated the story for Aggie. It was about a missionary . . . the birth of a white baby . . . Svea's death . . . and how the little boy became the village teacher who won the entire village to Christ. Aggie marveled at the story, but there were two more chapters to come.

When Aggie and her husband celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, the college gave them a trip to Sweden. There Aggie set out to find her real father. David Flood was now an old man. He had remarried, fathered four more children, and bitter at God, had become an alcoholic. Aggie found her half-siblings, but they warned her about her father. "Don't mention God, he'll fly into a rage." Aggie was not to be deterred. She found David in a squalid apartment, and introduced herself, "Papa." Her father began to cry, "I never meant to give you away." "It's all right, Papa. God took care of me." David stiffened, "No, God forgot all of us." "No, He didn't," And Aggie told him how the little boy Svea evangelized had saved the whole village. By the end of that afternoon, Aggie's father turned back to the God he thought had abandoned him.

Five years later the Hursts went to London to attend a high-level evangelism conference. There the head of the national church in Zaire spoke of the gospel's rapid spread, and how Zaire now had 110,000 believers. After his address, Aggie asked him, "I am the daughter of David and Svea Flood. Have you heard of them?" He gasped, "I was the boy who brought food to your parents before you were born. Your mother told me of Christ, and from that one seed came a harvest of 110,000 people, growing strong." . . . The lives of David, Svea and Aggie were very hard. But by following the path our Lord set out for them, they changed the destiny of an entire nation.

Graduates, we don't know what the race of life will bring. I pray that you will find much blessing and joy. But you will also face times when the race is very difficult. In those moments, don't give up and don't give in. God is with you! And as you run the race, may our text give you both reassurance and challenge, "Trust in the Lord with all of you strength, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."