A few days ago, I decided to go for a bike ride. I went by myself. My friend who usually comes with me had to work. I chose a route I had never been on before. I hadn't even driven those roads. But, I did know that, according to my map, those roads lead to the bike path that I wanted to ride on. There were a few familiar intersections along the way and I figured things would be just fine.
My first road block came less than two miles into the trip. The road that I had chosen to take was under construction. I figured that if I just went a couple of blocks south and headed in the same direction, I would be just fine and be able to connect back to the same roads I was planning on.
Somewhere between going under the freeway and taking the small detour, my mind slipped 45 degrees. Instead of heading east, I was headed north. I headed that way for only about a half mile when I decided to check my mental calculations and see where I was headed. I was shocked to see the little red line on the map told me I had been heading straight north when I thought I had been going east. I didn't want to head back all the way that I had come, so I decided to just turn east at that point. According to my little map, it looked like I could still connect to the bike trail on the road that I had taken.
Along the way, I hit another pocket of road construction. This time, I smiled when I looked at the sign directing me where to go:
At first glance, this sign seemed terribly deceptive or just a complete mistake. The words say keep right, the picture says keep left. Why? Well, the right side of the road had been torn out. Orange barrels and cones were completely blocking it off. The sign was actually telling me to go to the left side of the road, but I still needed to ride on the right side of the remaining road. Not at all conflicting counsel, no mistakes in the printing of the sign, when the big picture is understood. If I would have just followed the words, I could've ended up plowing through orange barrels into the rough surface of a construction project. If I would've followed the picture, I could have been a hazard to oncoming traffic. Yet, the counsel together led me to safety.
I rode another few miles and found myself nearing the bike path. I could tell it was just up ahead, but the road was coming to an end in a cul-de-sac. I was hoping that there was a small entrance at the end of the cul-de-sac, but was frustrated to find that I couldn't get on. That road would not lead me there, even though it was really close. I turned south at the nearest intersection and figured that if I just kept looking up the roads that headed east, I could find a connection.
After only a few blocks, the end of another cul-de-sac had what appeared to be a little dirt trail in tall weeds and I could see bikers and runners going by on the bike path above. I excitedly turned and headed that way.
About five feet into the trail, I realized that I had taken a really rough road. It tightly switched back and forth, the weeds were everywhere and I worried that my tires might catch on something that could pop them. So, I hopped off my bike and carried it the rest of the way up the rocky, steep, weed-covered dirt hill.
Relief and happiness poured over me as I FINALLY stepped onto the paved trail. Runners and bikers zipped past me and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The solid, familiar ground under my feet felt like such an anchor. I had been on this path before. I knew that this path would lead me where I wanted to go and I knew that it would lead me back home.
I couldn't shake the thought going through my mind over and over again that this ride was so much like life. Sometimes, we make choices that lead us to tough roads. Sometimes, tough roads are placed in front of us. Sometimes, we get confused. We are blessed with counsel along the way from our prophets, the scriptures, our leaders, and the Holy Ghost. There are times, that if we get too absorbed or look too close at a particular piece of doctrine, it can look wrong, like my road sign. But if we take a step back and look at the whole picture, things make sense. Once we step back onto the familiar, solid path of the gospel, there is peace there. I know that is the path that will lead us all back to our heavenly home.
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