A Note from the Artist...

I spent this early crisp and cold winter morning wandering around the mountainside, soaking up the spectacular views across the lake and lofty mountain ranges. The undulating ridges, valleys and folds of the mountains are something that constantly make me want to explore and capture this beautiful world.

 

As I walked to the edge and looked down, I saw a road winding through the ranges below. In my head, in that moment, I wondered if that is what it is like when God looks down on us from heaven watching the paths we travel upon. Later as I reflected on the image, it came to me, to walk the path of faith is saying “yes” to the call of our maker. To set out on a path with Him that we cannot see.

 

I was struck by how the many twists and turns of the road were marked with stretches of straight. Yet why is it, the majority of us desire straight paths for our lives without any twists and turns at all?

 

Man thinks along the lines of straight, direct and fast paths work best. We build straight tracks for train travel, airstrips, straight roads make for faster travel in our cars. We pray to God for clear direction in our decisions and life choices. We have no desire to take the wrong path or the detours, only focussed on the straight and direct.

 

That highlights the divide between the winding paths created by nature such as meandering steams and valleys through the mountains and the straight paths created and desired by man.

 

Yet what if there was purpose in the winding path, in the uncertainty of trusting Him to be our only guide? Perhaps the winding road through the valley is in fact the path that prepares us for a greater purpose, a greater faith in God. The moulding and the shaping of who He created us to be.

 

While the road may be challenging, God’s spirit is at work in us and the journey becomes transforming... and that is just the point, God is using the journey to change and shape us. I don’t need a map of where He is leading so long as He is walking the path alongside me.

 

As I walk, I need to ensure I am doing all I can to show the path to others, that it is clear, to find Him. To see the path God has planned for them to experience and learn what it is like to walk in faith and trust with our maker by our side. It doesn’t matter about the bends in the road, as with each bend we learn to walk closer and rely deeper upon God.

 

PSALM 37 : 23-24.
A person’s steps are established by the Lord, and he takes pleasure in his way. Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, because the Lord supports him with his hand

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About the Artwork...

Photography

NIKON D60
Nikkor 18-55mm
ISO 200
1/100 sec
f/9.0

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About the Artist...

Michelle Townend

Camberwell, Melbourne, VIC