A Road Not Traveled / 未知的路

[Dexu Xia]

A Road Not Traveled

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them. Isaiah 42:16

People ask me if I have a five-year plan. How can I plan five years “down the road” on a road I’ve never traveled?

I think back to the 1960s when I was a minister to students at Stanford University. I’d been a physical education major in college and had a lot of fun, but I left no record of being a scholar. I felt wholly inadequate in my new position. Most days I wandered around the campus, a blind man groping in the darkness, asking God to show me what to do. One day a student “out of the blue” asked me to lead a Bible study in his fraternity. It was a beginning. 

God doesn’t stand at a juncture and point the way: He’s a guide, not a signpost. He walks with us, leading us down paths we never envisioned. All we have to do is walk alongside Him. 

The path won’t be easy; there’ll be “rough places” along the way. But God has promised that He will “turn the darkness into light” and “will not forsake” us (Isaiah 42:16). He’ll be with us all the way. 

Paul said that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). We can scheme and envision, but our Lord’s imagination far transcends our plans. We must hold them loosely and see what God has in mind.

In what ways has God turned your darkness into light? What have you found to be your greatest joy as you walk with Him?

Jesus, I thank You that You have plans for me far beyond my imagination. Help me follow Your lead.

未知的路

我要引瞎子行不认识的道，领他们走不知道的路。-以赛亚书42章16节

人们常问我是否有未来的五年计划。但我对未来的五年一无所知，如何预先规划一条未知的路程呢？

回想起1960年代，我在顶尖的史丹佛大学从事学生福音工作。我在大学时期主修体育，拥有美好的时光，但成绩平平，我觉得自己不够资格在这些优秀学生当中做福音工作。很多时候，我在校园里徘徊，仿佛瞎眼的人在黑暗中摸索，恳求上帝让我明白该从何开始。直到有一天，一名学生突然邀请我在他的弟兄小组带领查经班，这成为我服事的起点！

上帝不会站在你我人生的交叉路口上，告诉我们该走哪条路，因祂是引导我们的向导而非指路的路标。上帝会与我们同行，带领我们走未知的路，我们只要单单与祂同行。

人生的旅途并不是一条康庄大道，而是崎岖之路。但上帝已经应许我们，祂要“使黑暗变为光明，……并不离弃[我们]”（以赛亚书42章16节）。上帝会一路陪伴你我同行。

使徒保罗说，上帝能“充充足足地成就一切，超过我们所求所想的”（以弗所书3章20节）。我们可以展望未来、设定目标，但上帝的意念远超越我们的计划。我们不要过于坚持自己所定的计划，看上帝如何带领吧！

亲爱的耶稣，谢谢祢为我所订的计划，远超过我所能测度，求祢帮助我能跟随祢的带领。

上帝以何种方式使你从黑暗进入光明？
在与上帝同行的路程中，什么是你最大的喜乐？