The best pathway of your life
“Would you like to have your photo retouched?” the photographer’s sales agent asks after you’ve selected the pose you’d like to purchase. “We can brighten your eyes, remove blemishes and reduce the wrinkles on your face and neck.”
Did you go for it? Did you present to the world the better you?
Photo studio retouches are yesterday’s news. Today’s apps do even more. Your entire body type can change with a click here and there. You can reconstruct your face, arms, legs, and torso. Even your skin tone can change.
Is this the best you?
Social media has created for us the space to present the very best of us. Facebook, for example, can be a repository for the best of us. Retouched or embellished photos, positive images, and just the glossy parts of our stories make our newsfeeds.
Social media aside, many of us tend to show or share only the best of who we are. Sorrowful? On the verge of collapse? Who would know this under that smile and the façade of being just fine?
If you remember last week’s column about being glorious (because God has made us and sees us as glorious creations), you can—and should—answer that you are glorious when someone asks how you are. We are glorious—or at least just fine—not because of our circumstances. We are glorious or just fine because God not only loves us, but also God is with us.
But let me get back to this column. In Psalm 32, the psalmist David speaks to the ultimate retouch—or redirect. In verse 8a, David writes on behalf of the LORD who says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life (NLT).”
David sets before us a straightforward practice that enables us to experience this best pathway. He advises us to confess our sins. When we don’t confess our sins to God, we experience what David describes as “our bodies wasting away” with “groans all day long (verse 3).” There is nothing best—or grand—about this.
When we do confess, however, God forgives. With this forgiveness, we experience joy. With joy, we can shout (and most definitely share) this unmistakable truth: God is glorious. In front of our all-forgiving God, we can experience glorious freedom. To live a best life means we live a repentant life not tethered to sin. This means we are not burdened by (or tied to) a broken past.
At points in our lives, we all wonder which path to take. We wonder what we should do. God speaks to this in this same psalm. He says, “I will advise you and watch over you (verse 8b).” There are times we have “next big steps” such as choosing (or ending) a career, committing to a long-term relationship, or buying a home. We can experience comfort in these big steps because God has been present to us (and, in turn, we have been present to God) in the myriad of life’s little steps. Rather than think of the next step as a big one among the little ones, consider the series of smaller steps that brings you where you are. Future facing questions help the smaller steps. What in my soul is pushing for change? Is this relationship moving in a healthy way? What would I want in a new home?
Big steps can be anxiety producing. So stop, breathe. When we understand that God wants what is best for us, we experience the same joy we experience when we confess our sin. In fact, it is our sin that makes next big steps a challenge. When we are at peace with who we are and what we have done (that is, seeking forgiveness during wrong steps), then the next steps are easy, natural.
If you’re going to touch up something, put the pictures or the posts on social media on the back burner. Focus instead on where you need to forgive and be forgiven.
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