The Time for Faith is Now.

Many years ago life seemed clear cut. I've been listening to a cd that brings back such memories from a time in my life when the path ahead was easy to see and easy to understand. It was so plainly marked out that there was little doubt in my mind as to what lay ahead. Naivety may have made that path look brighter and easier to follow and of course back then I had only just started my journey, this cd reminds me that I was a four year old 'baby' Christian and newly married, and now looking back I see that really I had barely even started my Walk.

Fourteen years later, that path is no longer a pretty little trail that I'm walking along, like the sort that one would find up in the Peak District, where you can see for miles, with a huge sky hanging over you, and the cool breeze carrying a myriad of pleasant scents and sounds for you to enjoy and each twist and turn of the road ahead begging you to walk a bit further.

I'm still on that path that began so prettily, but oh how it has changed as I've travelled upon it. The sky now is not high and wide, it is not clear and blue, well not always like it was at the beginning. The path does have certain stretches that are glorious, the views breathtaking, the flowers that are blooming are deliciously sweet to smell. And yet the further along the path I go, the darker and more overgrown it becomes. I can barely see but a few feet ahead of me, the hedges are so tall and ungroomed that I cannot see to my left or right, and ahead of me it is misty and eery. Does it beckon me to walk on? Nay, I'm inclined to stand still and not move another foot.

And yet, though the path seems difficult, the way ahead so unclear and daunting, fear would take my heart were it not for the fact that I know Who walks with me. Although at the start my path was pretty and a joy filled me that bid me to skip the whole way, yes although those years of walking with Jesus were like a pleasant stroll, strangely now, this path with its dark foreboding sky and tangled nettles that block my path, and high wall-like privets that obstruct what my eyes wish to see. Despite my trembling heart, regardless of the whisperings of doubt, even with such surroundings, the path is better now than it ever was.

What folly it must seem! At the start I think I may have been inclined to stay on that pretty path, and though Jesus may have walked ahead of me, I would have been content to sit and look at the view, I fear this is where many Christians stay and why so many do not seem to grow. But, now I walk on, the fear that grips my heart over the future, the what-ifs and thoughts that tumble in mind, even the beautiful parts of the path that beckon me to rest will not stop me walking like they used to if He carries on down the path.

I could not sit down on the tender grass, and breathe in the clean cool air, and let my eyes delight in the beauty of the view if He got up and carried on. Oh, yes I have lingered despite Him moving on, I have sat so long that I fell asleep as dear Christian did in Bunyan's tale. How many months if not years have I remained a baby Christian, stunting my growth, lapping up the view but not moving on with Him.

And so, though I'm scared to death and this path is not a happy little trip anymore, I've not just got my ticket to Heaven and now spend my days going round the merry-go-round of 'sinning/forgiveness' anymore. I'm walking with my Friend, I wouldn't dare sit and not follow, I couldn't leave His side. Oh, but I still can't see what's ahead, in fact it seems to get darker and foggier the more I walk, the path gets narrower with each step, twigs and branches scratch, and the mist leaves a dampness in the air. But He is there, sometimes a little way ahead of me, sometimes at my side, but many times He is so far in front that the mist enshrouds Him and I can't see Him, but He calls back to me, 'The time for Faith is now'.

What? Didn't I have faith 'back then' when I started down this path? Yes, Faith that He died in my place, Faith that He forgives and Faith that He will save me. I didn't need faith for much else back then, I trusted myself for the path ahead, I could see for miles so I thought, but now I know that I can see very little and can control very little. Now I have a Faith Story.

The time for Faith is now.