I went for a walk in the woods. It’s a dog-walking park and the trails wander hither and yon. I started out on the main ones, covered in snow and bits of ice. Dog prints wandered off and on the path, in and out of the trees. Human prints stayed mainly on the trail. 

Soon I came to other trails that split off. Then others split from those. I ‘chose the one less travelled by,’ following a meandering path, splitting, joining, crossing other trails and re-crossing. The trails I took led over small brooks. Some I crossed on bridges made from planks, covered in snow and a few prints. Others I used trunks fallen across, sturdy but narrow.  I was content to wander, enjoying the beauty of the snow-shrouded trees and trails, the quiet trickling of the streams and brooks.

I decided, thoughts wandering with my feet, that I only really need one set of prints to follow. His. I trust His leading – having proven it trustworthy repeatedly over the past years. 

Here, even on the smaller trails, there were more than one set of prints. But the further I wandered, the less I heard the other walkers and their dogs, the quieter it got. I was definitely on the less travelled way.

I was content.

For a while. 

After about 35-40 minutes I realised I was not getting where I thought I would. Contentment dwindled. Frustration crept in. I guess I’d had my own goal and expectation, after all. After another while I realised I must have strayed much further from where I thought. Finally I had to pull out my phone and check the GPS. If I wanted to get back to my car I needed to turn around. How did that happen? My wandering had taken me where I hadn’t intended.

I found a trail heading generally back to where I should go. I was tired. Needed a toilet. Was getting cold….

Here is where perseverance needed to kick in. 

It was a short step from contentment to endurance. 

And on the way back, when I hit a main trail (finally) I abandoned the ‘way less travelled’ and followed the crowd, as it were. 

In 2021, when my future (like so many others) is uncertain, how long will I be willing to follow only His footprints? 

When it gets tough, might I opt for the path that is well trodden and easier? 

Or will I take the ‘way less travelled’ aka the ‘narrow way’? 

Will I be able to trust and persevere? 

Or will I continue to wander in contentment (with little need to grit my teeth and persevere), following only His steps?

Questions to ponder.

For another ‘road less travelled by’ see https://godcolouredwords.com/tales-of-colour/