Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Christian Outdoor Object Lesson 40: Trail Markers



Key Verse
"The Lord will guide you continually" Isaiah 58:11a KJV

Lesson

Trapper Ronald Woodcock had been lost for thirty days in the wilderness of Upper British Columbia. Tortuously he had fought his way through underbrush, following the banks of streams, hoping to find civilization. Suddenly he spied a rotting telegraph pole. "If I can only follow this old government trail, I'll make it!" For twenty-seven more days he searched for the packed earth of the trail, for bits of wire and old poles. Exhausted, clothes tattered, sick from an all-berry diet, flesh perforated with mosquito bites, he stumbled onto a dirt road, to passing motorists, help, and home.

Indians and early trappers were expert in marking trails. A tied clump of grass, a blazed tree, or a stack of rocks meant "You're on the trail." A bent clump of grass, a bent bush, or arrows on the ground made of sticks or stones meant "Turn this way."

God has not left His children to stumble through the maze of life with no trail markers. What joy it is in following the Christian way to suddenly recognize that God has sent clear guidance. Our heavenly Father may use a
Scripture verse or a word from one of His servants. But the Christian recognizes it. To him it says, "This is God's way of guiding me right now. He's going to help me through this wilderness." My Lord knows the way through the wilderness; All I have to do is follow.1

Questions


Have you ever felt lost before? What did you do?

Can you think of other promises in the Bible about how God will help his children?

What is the first thing you can do every time you feel lost?

Sources

1 Todd, Floyd, and Pauline Todd. "Trail Marker." Good Morning, Lord: Devotions for Campers. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1973. 1. Print.

Questions By David F. Garner
Photo Credit: David F. Garner