Robert Frost (paraphrased in “Frostiana”) said it like this…
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.”

Jesus said it like this…
“Enter by the narrow gate…for the gate is small, and way is narrow
that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” (Matt. 7:13-14)

My thoughts today are on a practical note. They have to do with asking God to
narrow us down when we get so flustered about the massive need around us that
we’re tempted to give up before we even start.

When I moved to Denver in my mid-twenties, I was a wide-eyed optimist with lots of energy. I knew I had a call to missions, but I didn’t know what that meant. Everywhere I looked there was pressing need. I needed focus.
And I had a Masters in music, not missions. What to do?

For starters, I asked God to narrow me down . . . and he did. I met Ray and Marilyn Stranske at a conference and they were focused on local poverty. We sat around their dining table for months, praying and studying about justice and more specifically, affordable housing. They started Hope Communities, which helped change the face of poverty in Denver. And I got to help.
Our mission field was in our own city.

Years later, after working with Hope and later DenverWorks, I got fidgety. I wanted to work globally, so I resigned from DenverWorks and started working on behalf of the Dalits (formerly called “Untouchables”) of India.
(Ten years later I returned for a time as executive director of DenverWorks, but that’s a story for another day.)

Two mission fields . . . urban Denver and impoverished India. Those are the “narrowed down” pieces of the pie with which God let me work.

Daily Seed: What are your “narrowed down” pieces of the pie?

“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” (Henry David Thoreau,
from his Journal)