Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies—make straight your way before me.
Psalm 5:8 (NIV)

The shoots of corn stood eight inches tall. The sun had only just come over the horizon, giving a pale pink glow to the morning sky. We were in the middle of the long western expanse of the cornfield, Vic holding the paper map in his hand and surveying the project. The smudge of jam on the corner of the map recalled the fun of last night as he and the kids had penciled in and erased lines. Together, they worked hard to plan the maze. Better yet, they had fun.

Today Vic began putting their plan into action. The map was filled with straight lines. He stepped forward, pulling all the corn out of a row of dirt in an exact copy of the straight lines on his paper map, leaving a walking path through the cornfield. The trail through these baby corn plants would be almost invisible today, but what a wonderful adventure it would be when the corn eventually grew green and tall.

Come fall, the great cornfield would hide a complex trail pattern of lines, turns, dead-ends, and hidden “rooms,” the whole maze drawn out in the map in Vic’s hand. One way into the corn maze. And among all the twists and turns…there was only one special way out.

As Vic worked, I thought of life’s trials this past year. Oftentimes, we had felt blinded and lost in a maze. Catching the flutter of God’s map in the breeze, I was every day reminded of the Lord’s incomprehensible plan and His protection in our journey through life’s maze. He is the great Creator and Protector. He makes the crooked way straight.

Looking ahead to the fun of children laughing in the middle of the cornfield, I bowed my head in thanksgiving.  God watches us in life’s maze.  He will bring us safely home.

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 Lord, strengthen our trust in your plan for our lives. Help us feel the love you surround us with in the midst of our daily walk.  Amen.