Directionally Challenged

So many times throughout this long journey I have found myself standing squarely in the center of a crossroad. Sometimes, choosing the right way is clear. Sometimes, the road in all directions is muddy, crooked, overgrown with weeds, full of potholes and littered with boulders and I am utterly confused. Do I turn left? do I turn right? do I go straight? do I run back the way I came? Mostly, if I wait paitently, prayerfully and with faith, God places His hands ever so lightly on my shoulders and gives me a slight nudge in the right direction. But sometimes, there is no nudge, no whisper, no light touch of a divine hand. There is only silence as the dust blows around me and impedes my view. Tonight I stand in this dusty place and I don't know what to do. The most frustrating thing is that I'm sure I've been here before. But how can that be? If I was here before, then I must have moved on since, by reason, I'm here again. So which way did I turn last time? Was it wrong? Is that why I've circled back? Did I repeat a mistake? Was I disobedient and so God has allowed me to walk in a huge circle so I can get it right this time? How do we ever really know that we're going the right way when we are faced with a difficult choice? I don't think I'm the first Pilgrim to ask this question. As a matter of fact, I know I'm not. But oh, how I wish the way would straighten out again. I wish that I could write that I can finally see where I'm going, the turrets of the castle are in sight. I see the flag waving, and the sounds of the fanfare drift over the last few miles and urge me on home. I long to rest beside those promised quiet waters. I want so much to lay down in those luscious green pastures. Ahh. But the Valley still lays stretched out before me and so, I will lift one foot up and place it down in front of the other and I will smile and have hope and continue on until I have learned everything God wants for me to learn and perhaps, sooner than later, the dust will settle, the valley will open up and there before me I shall see my home sweet home.