The Road Not Taken

I'm not a fan of Robert Frost, but one of his poems captured my attention many years ago. I identified with it then, and I identify with it more now. It is entitled, "The Road Not Taken"

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

I certainly could be criticized for liking a poem that is obviously so against the providence of God. Mr. Frost here seems to believe that life is nothing more than random choices, that it's all in our hands and that God has nothing to do with it. In that, I totally disagree with him.

On the contrary, I believe that God directs our steps, and that He is intimately interested in what we do. I side with the psalmist who says in Psalm 23, "The Lord is my Shepherd...He leads me beside still waters...He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake."

I identify with this poem, because for all my life it seems I have been on the road less taken. As a child, my parents pulled me out of the mainstream schools and put me in a small, Christian school. In the midst of the turmoil of the 60s and 70s, my sisters and I enjoyed order and peace in our schooling. While all my friends were getting married and having children, I was off traveling and working in Europe. Though I owned very little (I could pack most of my belongings in the back of a car), I had the privilege of seeing things most people never see. I eaten with the rich, I have sat with the poor. I've been blessed beyond measure. My life has been full of deep sorrow and great joy. On and on I could go.

To me, the road less taken (sorry, Mr. Frost) is the narrow road that leads to life everlasting. When I was quite young, the Lord delivered me and put me on the narrow path that leads to life eternal. Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Matthew 7:13,14)

Abundantly blessed, I've experienced life to its fullest. God has been good to me. He put me on the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference.