Which Way? Facing Life’s Turning Points (Part 1)

England’s Hampton Court features an intriguing feature—a maze.

The hedge-formed square of passageways confounds visitors. Each comes to a moment in which they must choose a direction. One direction leads to nowhere. But the other leads to another choice.

Life is a maze. We come to a corner and have to turn. Most mazes force a choice. Take the wrong one and you find yourself at a dead end. (I have driven a few highways like that!)

Yogi Berra, the great Yankee catcher, misspoke in memorable ways. One of his “Yogisms” is, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Making life decisions takes more thought than mere chance.

We meet life’s turning points throughout life.

Where you go to college and what you study, who you marry, where you move, the church you go to, and the friends you make—all are turns in a road that leads to a direction.

Before we step into our own maze, we need to think about the truths about turning points.

We don’t recognize them when they appear.

Seldom does a life-changing decision announce that itself. And few ask, “Where will this lead?”

We only recognize turning points in the rear-view mirror of life.

What choices have you made that made you who you are? To answer that you have to reflect backward.

But if I asked you another question, “What turning points are you facing this year?” that answer would not come easily, if at all.

We don’t appreciate their power over our lives.

In 1947, Bell Labs discovered a way to pass electrical impulses through silicon. It was pretty much unnoticed, but look at how the world changed with the invention of the transistor.

Lot did not think about what did not seem like his life turning point. In Genesis 12, his uncle Abram gave him the choice of pasture. He chose good pasture, but it would put him in contact with the cities of the plain. He and his family are kidnapped. They move into Sodom, where they become part of the social structure. Their morals get corrupted. He loses his wife and fathers his own grandchildren. But it was just about grazing sheep.

It’s never just about grazing sheep.

Many things happen to us, and the significant ones don’t appear to be that.

But we also cannot see over the horizon.

By that, I mean we cannot see where they will lead. We would love to sit down with a sheet of paper with 2 columns—pro and con—and make a logical decision.

Charts cannot predict the future. They miss destiny.

In 1 Samuel, when Hannah turns over her son to Eli, she does not envision him becoming the first prophet or that he would be God’s representative to bring kings to Israel. Those were a full generation away.

Three doors down from our house and across the street is a tree that the county arborist says is the oldest tree in our town. It’s massive. But who would have ever thought that a small leaf poking out of the ground would be that?

We don’t face a single one.

We don’t come and make a choice that settles all issues.

Think about your life. On the first day of college, advisors ask, “What’s your major?”

Our answer is a feeble “I dunno.” But you choose a direction. At that college, you meet your husband or wife. You get a degree, a job offer, and get married. You get a series of promotions that move you around the country. You have three kids and they go to school and you go down your road again.

What are the turning points in that story?

Yet, we always have to live with their aftermath.

In ages past, your choice to follow Christ might lead to being burned at the stake. The story of the rich fool tells us he built barns to hold more crops. But his choice of ease and complacency fooled him.

All life is a map of the choices made.

In the next installment, we will watch a man as he comes to his crossroads for what he instructs us.

But for today, what turning points have changed your life, and how?