{"id":13175,"date":"2025-09-14T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=13175"},"modified":"2025-08-30T08:32:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T13:32:01","slug":"pondered-paths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/14\/pondered-paths\/","title":{"rendered":"Pondered Paths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Orange-Illustrated-Autumn-Path-Mobile-Video-Instagram-Post-45-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Orange-Illustrated-Autumn-Path-Mobile-Video-Instagram-Post-45-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Orange-Illustrated-Autumn-Path-Mobile-Video-Instagram-Post-45-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Orange-Illustrated-Autumn-Path-Mobile-Video-Instagram-Post-45-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Orange-Illustrated-Autumn-Path-Mobile-Video-Instagram-Post-45.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ron and I just returned from an eleven-mile bike ride exploring the country around our home. Narrow country roads with quick drop-offs led us through the lush green pastures, some with crops ready for harvesting, others already harvested, waiting for winter prep. Discovering new trails, created by the Lord, exhilarates the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God sees the paths we take and the roads we travel. When we don\u2019t include Him in our plans, we often end up in places He never meant for us to go. But allowing the Lord to plan our itinerary takes us into lush pastures and green meadows where we find rest for our souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Lord also understands that the paths we take speak volumes about who we follow. Following the rabbit hole of sin leads us to pain and misery, God watching us as we go, knowing that we have chosen to disobey Him. We don\u2019t conceal anything from the Creator, from little white lies to blatant rebellion; He sees it all. And His heart grieves when we choose anything but Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the giver of life, our Maker has a divine plan for us. He wants to bestow blessings upon us that we can\u2019t even imagine, but when we choose a different path, we miss out on them. We choose each day who we will follow and what path we will take. Wise people let the Lord lead, dying to self and following the Savior wherever He wants to take them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To live in God\u2019s favor, we must let Him lead and trust that He does have our best interest at heart and will bless our efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Journal Question:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">What path have you taken that you wish you hadn\u2019t?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Write about a time you followed the Lord\u2019s leading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Knowing God ponders the path you take, how would He feel about your current path?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Prayer:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Lord, thank You for loving us enough to care about what path we take. As we choose which way to go today, help us make good decisions. Please illuminate the road You want us to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">IJNIP. Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two-minute read. Ron and I just returned from an eleven-mile bike ride exploring the country around our home. Narrow country roads with quick drop-offs led us through the lush green pastures, some with crops ready for harvesting, others already harvested, waiting for winter prep. Discovering new trails, created by the Lord, exhilarates the soul. God&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/14\/pondered-paths\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Pondered Paths<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13175"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13180,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13175\/revisions\/13180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}