Drenched But Not Damaged on the Path of Purpose

If the path were plain, would you take it?

If the path were straight — free from an uphill climb, no pebbles to stumble over, and overgrown tree roots weren’t an obstruction, would you tread forward?

But what if the path ahead is actually darker?

What if you’re on it for so long without a clearing ever in sight.

Or what if the very first step you take on this path actually begins at an incline.

Perhaps this path is long.

And it may get lonely.

Maybe there will be times along this path that the exhaustion will overshadow the joy.

The weight of this felt not only in the legs, but that of your heart, too.

The path that once appeared possible from a distance now has you questioning your own purpose.

The same one you once prepared for, even in the midst of the unkown, with a heart full of endless potential.

Your zeal was contagious — the labor effortless — the work exhuberant.

And the path did appear clear.

Yet, the more your preperation has fertilized, the way grew foggy.

The more time spent journeying forward, you were focused on the path you would take in the process, not the steps you would take the entirety of the trek.

And suddenly, with each step progressing forward, the path shifted.

What was once enjoyable began to feel challenging.

It hasn’t always felt burdensome to lift each leg as you step forward — but it does now.

Wearisome. Worrisome. Anxious. Exhausting.

Mentally. Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually.

You once felt surrounded with encouragment, support, community, and a place of comfort. One of belonging.

But what once felt natural appears as a challenge unlike you’ve yet to experience.

The community you once clung to has left you alone, burdensome and weighted.

Has your own loftiness left you desolate? Have you ensured your own demise? Did you find pride along the way? Has your own boldness blinded you? Are you destined to live deserted? Does anyone see this oppression along the path that hovers, like a cloud threatening to consume your mind.

The vision that was once fixated on your purpose now has you questioning your very exisitence along this specific path.

The shallows of the sea have now appeared on each side of this path that lays before that’s width has seemingly grown smaller with each step taken.

And now when you look behind to call to rememberance the reflection of each milestone surpassed, there’s nothing.

What has once been, now overtaken by the waves. The past, consumed.

And yet, you remain fixated.

The blinders that once kept your focus are no longer there. Misplaced? Perhaps. Did you take them off? You couldn’t have because you’ve held too closely to them. They were your comfort. You held control.

Control was your comfort.

Before, the blinders kept you moving forward. You couldn’t look behind with them on, and you actually never needed to. Because there was nothing to gaze back upon, yesterday. You never had a need for peripheral vision.

But today is not yesterday.

What once was is now no longer.

Now the shadows have appeared. The sun has subsided and the evening is quickly approaching. The shadows loom so closely, hovering behind and beside, threatening to undo that which has already been done. The sun had always shone, brightly, as you journeyed forward, leaving the smooth dirt beneath you the ideal terrain.

Yet, now, there’s not even a glimmer of moonlight refelecting off the water, and in the darkness, you feel the coolness of the water begin to splash over you, the surface below rough and calloused.

The climb has become treacherous in the night.

Were there signs of this shift? So suddenly it overtook you, without notice these shadows descended upon you in this journey. And you say it’s unexpected, but had the path actually been preparing you?

You look behind once more and it’s in that moment a decision must be made.

Even alone, you must continue.

Although freightened, a step must be made. Although weary and worried you remain, if steadfastly focused on the past, progress won’t be an option.

Worn and torn, you are not defeated and you are not done.

This isn’t any storm in the night- this is surely bound to be destruction.

You feel the force of the wind sweep through your hair. A briskness begins to stroke your face, beginning softly, yet now reddening your cheeks.

The sun’s faded, night’s evaided, the winds washing away the path that once lay so clearly ahead.

Confusion envelopes your mind. Doubt hovers so loudly within your thoughts that surely it must be whispering in your ear.

Fear grips within yourself, clenching so powerfully it cuts the very skin hovering over your heart.

“Forsake now.” The words echo so clearly that surely they’re being spoken aloud.

Darkness ensues. Finality dawns. Surrender or sink. This is the end.

Fight or flee — either reach forward or sink with regret. This climb is a choice.

Yet, it feels as though nothing now surrounds you. There’s nothing to take strong hold of.

This is individual warfare.

And suddenly you realize this is not happenstance.

This is the refinement of definement.

This is the moment. The moment you must choose that although there’s nothing beside you to take hold of, there’s something beneath you must tightly cling to. And you know. This moment is the one. The one that will refine you. The one that will define you.

But not just this moment now — but every moment that still lays before you.

Right now is your future.

This moment is the one that every moment of yesterday has prepared you for. You asked for refinement. This is it. The refining moment that will define you.

It’s felt crushing because maybe it has been. Is it possible that this crushing was the cure?

And while you’ve felt the loss of so much along this path, the cruse has never left you.

Although small, minuscule even, it’s been the one thing you knew you couldn’t forsake as you’ve journeyed forward. You’ve nearly abandoned it many times. Yet, now you clutch it closely as you grip tightly to that beneath you as the water leaves you weighted.

You may be drenched, but not damaged.

Is that you, today, my friend? Has the weight of ministry left you feeling lonely? Maybe you, much as myself, find yourself in a season of refinement. Refinement isn’t an easy process. In fact, it’s miticulous and often, an uncomfortable process. In essence, a transformation that may leave you inevitably vulnerable.

Perhaps, ministry feels heavy and hard right now.

I see the distratctions. I know they’re many. I know the task ahead may appear impossible. It may feel that way, and in reality, it may be impossible.

But with God.

That’s it. No words need uttered beyond that.

Because with man, it may be impossible.

But with God, all things are possible. And greater is He that is in you than any power in hell that you may be standing up against who doesn’t wish the Kingdom work come to fruition. Come on hell, go ahead and wage — you will not win. Because when God sets off to complete His work — all He needs is a vessel.

Right now, your vessel may feel as though it’s cracking under the pressure. It may feel chipped, tattered, worn, and used well beyond it’s ability of what it’s carrying.

But this is it. This is the one — the defining moment.

The path you’re on is the path you were destined to tread upon and although the winds may rage, you’re walking it with the one who breathes life into the wind.

And what you’re grasping ahold of beneath you is the hand of God that’s holding you — He’s never abandoned you on this path He’s called you to labor upon.

You were capable before God ever even called you.

So get back to work and watch that vision come to life.