I love this song, because I can relate to the songwriter. Sometimes, we look back on our past and think: What if I would have taken a different road? What if I would have chosen to take the easier path? I like the line that says, “I would walk away with my yesterdays.” The truth is we wouldn’t be able to truly comprehend or appreciate the beautiful moments in our lives, if we hadn’t been through challenging and tragic parts of our lives. We wouldn’t be able to experience the glory of God in it’s fullest, if we had not known the loneliness and pain of the darkest and longest of nights. God is our “sunrise!” We wouldn’t know morning, if we hadn’t experienced midnight. Yet, sometimes we try to take different roads… easier roads, because maybe we are lacking courage or faith. Or, maybe we try to takes these easier paths, because we are lazy or just don’t believe in ourselves and God’s predestined potential for us. “How often we turn to level ground and try to avoid the hills. Yet it’s the hard path that strengthens us. Through our difficult times, God draws near and takes us by our arm. He becomes our guide and companion – and strength.”(Nortker, 3-Minute Devotionals For Women, p.134) But, we need to be willing to walk the most challenging path… the steep, windy path with thorn bushes and gravely sand. It is on this path, that God strengthens us. It is here, that He allows us to build the resistance and stamina to accomplish everything, which He has planned for our futures. In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, choose to obey God in faith and to take the path that seemed that it would lead to eminent death in the fiery furnaces of King Nebuchadnezzar. This was a very dark moment for them, but God used these three young men’s obedience and faith to reveal Himself and His glory to not only them, but also the Babylonians. Like Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego; we also are permitted to go through fire. God not only spares us, but comes to walk with us in the fire like He did with Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego. The fire not only brings us closer to God, but it also purifies us and refines us like gold. Isaiah 48:10 says, “See, I have tested you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the fire of suffering.” But, we must be willing to take the path God has for us, even if it is the most difficult path. 1 Peter 5:10-11 says, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” -1Peter 5:10-11

If you haven’t heard the song, you might want to check it out.

Here the lyrics to the song: