You Find Your Path By Walking It
Tavis Smiley, the author of the new book, My Journey With Maya, had the fortunate opportunity to be mentored by Maya Angelou, the famous poet laureate and author. In a recent interview, Smiley was recalling a time in his life where he had failed in what he thought he was born to do – serving as a politician (He lost the first race he entered!). It is was in this low moment that he started his unexpected journey with Maya. Tavis recalls how he so badly wanted Angelou to tell him what to do next, to tell him who he should be in this world. He says in the interview "I wanted her to just tell me, in that moment of despair and despondency, what is my role, what am I supposed to do; how do I find my voice, how do I know that I matter in the world? Just give me the answer to this question. And she would just tell me: 'Baby, we find our path by walking it.'"
I amazed at how often Maya Angelou’s reply is exactly how God speaks to me when I get lost and stuck, trying to figure out where I am supposed to go next, and how to find my voice in the world. We find our path by walking it.
The world has conditioned us to think that only certain kinds of people are significant. But as Tavis also remarked in this interview, we are all human, and all of our humanity matters. We all have something to offer the world; we all have a story to tell. God has placed good inside of all of us even when we can't see it. He wants us to come alive and find the voice He has placed inside of us, a voice that brings good to this world. And the way we find our path is by walking it.
It’s most certainly not an easy journey, but it is definitely the only way forward.
As we walk,
we learn,
we fall,
we fail,
we stand back up,
we are redirected,
we are rerouted,
we grow,
and we find our unique path.
And that path won't be what it is if you didn't walk through it all. The most amazing thing about this path is that we are not on it alone. Jesus walks with us every step of the way, whispering into our souls the courage we need to take the next step.
You can trust His heart and know that you will find your path by walking it.