The Maze

When my children were little we read books quite a lot.
There were always trips to the library.
Each of them would leave with their own satchel of books.
We had a basket in our family room for books; not one library book ever got lost.

The kitchen island was always the place to do creative things.
Playdoh, coloring, drawing, stenciling, and making magnets were some of the things done there.
There was always something creative or imaginative going on in the kitchen it seemed.
Of course, there was wonderful outdoor play as well.

Our television was always out of sight.
To this day, our television is inside an armoire that my husband made for me.
The television was out of sight for a reason.
Television viewing was very selective and very limited.

I still have a cabinet in my family room that has colored pencil and markers.
Stencils are in that cabinet as well.
Magnetic letters and numbers are there, too.
That cabinet got so much use day in and day out.

When my daughters were young, they loved to play with paper dolls.
We would buy what looked like a coloring book but was really a doll and her clothes.
The clothes had paper tabs that were folded over the doll’s shoulders.
The downside of paper dolls was that I was the one who cut them out.

When little girls like to play with paper dolls, they are usually not adept at using scissors.
I didn’t mind since they got so much enjoyment out of each paper doll set.
However, there were so many pieces and accessories, I would only do a few pages a time.
They learned to play with those things that were available and wait for the rest.

We kept the paper dolls in a shoe box.
We made paper folders out of construction paper to hold the entire set.
They knew the sets according to the folder color and easily pulled out the ones they wanted.
Paper dolls gave them hours and hours of fun.

Just when I thought I was passed the paper doll stage, sticker books became popular.
It was the same concept.
A book that looked like a coloring book had sheets of stickers than needed to be punched out.
It was easy for the older ones to do, but difficult for the little ones.

Inevitably, some stickers were torn because little fingers punched them out too quickly.
Soon the older ones could help the younger ones.
That meant less punching out and cutting for me to do.
There was always something new to do creatively.

There was one thing that always proved to be a challenge.
That one thing was mazes, the ones that were found inside coloring books.
There were simple mazes that any adult can solve just by looking at them.
There were difficult mazes that frustrated a small child and also frustrated me greatly.

Mazes had those annoying lines that you could not cross.
If you could cross the lines, you would complete the maze in minutes.
The most difficult mazes for me were the ones with concentric circles.
I would try to do the maze with my finger first before ever using a pencil.

You can’t do that, Mom, was always the refrain.
You were to put your pencil to paper and begin.
Sometimes we would have contest to see who could get to the center of the maze first.
I never won that contest.

I would start out well and then hit a brick wall, literally.
If I could only cross over that barrier right there, I would say to myself.
One line would get me where I needed to go.
However, I had to follow the directions and finish the maze the long way.

One night after my children went to bed, one of the mazes was still on the table.
I was determined to finish it.
I was determined to find my way.
I had a brilliant idea.

I would start at the end and work my way back to the beginning.
Somehow, that proved to be easier for me.
It almost seemed as if the creator of the maze made it more difficult at the beginning.
Starting at the end, I could see my way clearly.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5,6)

The paths in the maze were crooked and blocked at every turn.
I knew where I had to go, I just had trouble getting there.
However, starting at the end where my focus was directed, I saw clearly.
The paths were still twisting but there seemed to be an order to them.

Isn’t that the way it is with our lives?
We start out and journey through all the years God has ordained for us.
We cannot see around the corner.
We do not know what the next minute will bring.

It matters what is at the center of the maze of our lives.
If we are at the center of our lives, we will be confused and frustrated as we go about our days.
We will hit brick walls of our own making.
We will often get lost.

If the center of the maze of our lives is the Lord Jesus, then we have a Way.
The Way is more than a direction.
The Way is a Person.
The Lord Jesus will guide us safely Home.

It is said that life is lived forwards but understood backwards.
How true.
We press on from the starting point of our lives towards the end of our days.
That last day is known only to God.

However, if God is at the center of our lives we have a direction.
We must trust in Jesus alone and not our own ability to maneuver through the maze of life.
Jesus is the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Following Him, we are not lost; we are Home.

2 responses to “The Maze”

1. The quote you wrote is my life verse–who better to give us direction than the God who loves us? It is truly a-maze-ing how He guides us when we let Him be in control.

   Reply

   • Sue,you are so right. The problem is that many times we do not want to give God control. We think we can do a better job ourselves. I smiled at your use of the word, a-maze-ing in your comment. Very clever.
     Gina

     Reply