The fork in the road is behind me now. I walk along a path I did not expect to tread. The trees cast long shadows over my course; the world is quiet. Then, suddenly, the trees stop, ending with an abruptness that startles me at the edge of a barren desert. The earth is baked to the hardness of iron, cracked for want of water. Harsh sand blows through the air scouring the ground flat. I look up, hoping for a glimpse of beauty in the heavens, but even the sky is bleached by the heat. Where I long to see vibrant azure I see only washed out, pale, and dull blue. My heart quails within me again.
“No, Lord! Surely this cannot be the path you want me to follow!” I look back to the richness of the forest, remembering the streams and wells to be found in the cool green depths.
“But it is,” comes the soft reply. “You made this commitment long ago. Will you yield your proud will to Mine even in this?”
My gaze drops to the ground at my feet where grass gives way to sand. Tears start to my eyes. “But why, Lord? There was so much for me there. On that other path…Here, it is so barren and I don’t understand. Why?”
A gentle laugh touches my ears and a soft breeze caresses my cheek. “Oh, My child. Don’t you know? Because the Water is sweetest in the desert.”
