The Man Walking On the Way

A certain man departed from a town, and as he traveled some distance down the way, he came across a small child without parents.

Quickly leaving off all personal thoughts regarding his original destination, he quickly seeks to discern the needs of the child. Asking the child questions, seeking to know if the child was aware of his location, and or his home or guardians’ whereabouts? Upon learning the child was distressed and was not able to provide information along these routes, the man leads the child back to the town from which he came.

He brings the child to an inn, notifying the innkeeper of the nature of the situation. He also contacts the local authorities. While awaiting their arrival, he sees to the child’s needs of food and shelter and rest. As the authorities arrive and take the child into their care, noting they’re professional exercise of responsibility, the man takes his leave, bidding the child farewell with blessings.

Now the man, upon seeing the time of the day, he decides to stay the night himself in the Inn, to depart further the next day. As the man awakes the next day, he delights in seeing he child, who is now awaiting his parents. After saying a blessing and a farewell over him again, he departs down the path once more.

As he goes yet again some distance down the road, he sees a house nearby that has caught on fire. Quickly and without further thought, he turns away from the path and makes his way to the house. Inside, he finds a mother and her two small children in trouble. After securing them to safety outside of the home, he makes his way back in, to further secure as best he can any valuables, for the house is too far gone to fight the flames, further.

As the house is out of the way, the stranger takes upon himself the wife and small children, and makes his way back to the town with them. Once there he puts them up in the Inn, once more notifying the Innkeeper of the situation, as well as the authorities. He then sees to their needs, their welfare and their comforts. He feeds them and provides for all of their needs, as well as securing future needs for food and care with the Innkeeper and others in the town.

Once more, when checking the time, he determines that he must needs stay the night and make his way on the morrow. Having done thus, he awakes to share breakfast with the family he delivered from the fire the day prior, bringing them joy and encouragement, and confirming that their needs were well cared for. He is made aware as well that the father is now on the way home, and that their future is already looking brighter. Additionally, he also sees that the young child he met the day earlier was now reunited with his parents, and all looked bright for them as well.

Having determined he had done all that was good and needful and blessed, the man once again heads on his way towards the destination determined some few days past. As he is walking along the way, he comes upon a donkey well harnessed, yet without a rider. Being that it is surely a groomed beast, he determines to see if he can be of assistance in its return, or seek to understand further the circumstance of this situation. Thus, again, he is found turning aside from the road once more.

As he makes his way with the animal down the path, the donkey leading him, he comes across a man fallen and injured, having fallen off this self-same donkey. Quickly and without further thought, the man administers aid to the man, binding up his wounds and putting him upon the donkey. The fallen man being unconscious, the man leads the donkey and rider back to the town from whence he departed, again bringing him to the Innkeeper.

Once there he notifies the emergency aid workers in the town, who come over and administer aid to the man. He takes care of any associated costs, and being made to understand that the man needed time to rest, he makes arrangements with the Innkeeper to see to his care, lodging and others needs. As the man comes to later in the day, he shares a meal with the man, while also seeing the woman and her family from the day prior being rejoined by the father of the house. As well he sees the child with his parents still rejoicing at their reunion, prior to making their own way further the next afternoon.

The following morning the man meets with and greets the Innkeeper and all whom he has met the day before. Having a breakfast among them and being satisfied that they are all blessed and in good spirits and good fortune to make their way once more, he himself heads back onto the road toward his original destination.

As the man travels the path once more, quite soon after his departure does he come upon a quite ominous and deadly looking sky. Threatening a great and mighty storm, quickly bearing down upon the town he just departed. As quick as he is able and without further thought, the man turns back to the town and heads over to the Inn. He notifies the Innkeeper and the people. The word quickly set about the town, the people all gather in the Inn’s basement, well-constructed for just such an event.

Within just a few short minutes, the storm hits the town and it was a great storm indeed. In fact, it was so great as to nearly blow all of the inn itself down, where much of the town was now seated. Thankfully and most blessedly, though, the people who had all gathered in the basement remained safe. While they had seemingly lost much from the storm, they had retained their lives and thus a hope for a future.

As the man evaluated the situation wherein he now found himself, he understood without further thought that his most urgent need was going to be to remain here and help the people restore their lives, their homes and their livelihoods. He went on to remain there in the town for the next few months, helping all of the people and coming into great favor for his help, his love, his generosity and willingness to put his hand to all needful and good work.

Near the end of the few months, when the townsfolk had gathered to bid the man a great thanksgiving and farewell, one of the people asked a question most striking in its absence prior to this point. It was the following:

“Sir, you who have given us so much, of your time, your resources, your love and your life. Might we now ask you, to where were you originally destined to go when you made the first trip which led to the small child some few months ago?”

To this the man replied, “Why, I was to go off to meet up and visit with my own wife and children some distance off. However, seeing the needs here as being so great, I understood in my heart that this was the place I was intended to be.”

The townspeople, much astonished, further questioned him with grateful hearts, “Why Sir! We had no idea. Yet, how is it you could so leave your own family without you, all the while seeing to our needs, not certain of their own needs and situation?”

To which the man replied once more, “Well, you see, that’s actually quite easy to answer. You see, I serve a good God, and I understand that if He ever calls me away for any reason to a task, even to the putting off of a responsibility he has honed into my own hands, I can entrust myself entirely that if by His will I be about the assisting of others, surely those to whom I was originally sent and promised to would not otherwise go without. Rather, far greater than I, the one first determined to be for their care and provision. Now it would be the living God Himself who would be seeing to their care, and that is always exceedingly better, most special.

For what God of righteousness and goodness and faithfulness would He be if, having placed upon my path those who were in need of me, would then allow others depending on me to go without for my sudden lack by His own hand? Truly I say to you that my God is not such a God, unrighteous and unfaithful. Rather, He is a most high and excellent God, and in this case one can easily see that in all ways were not the ends ever better for His involvement in these times of need?

For truly I show you firsthand your own selves, how much you were able to benefit from my presence and resources, which I attribute all to the planning and provisioning and leading of the Lord my God. Without me, you would have had much less. So too can I be certain that as my God has sent me to care for you this day, He will have also assuredly cared for my own family in a most wondrous way. To me it is one of the greatest joys, the anticipation I have, to hear of all the glorious events that led as well to my own family’s care at the hands of Christ the Lord, perhaps such as was my care for you, here.

At this the people all marveled and rejoiced, for the came into the knowledge of God in such a way as they had never known nor experienced before. They then exalted and praised and gave worship to the living God seated on the throne in Heaven, many of whom also gave their lives to Him in that very moment.

His ways are not our ways, not are His thoughts as our thoughts. For as high as Heaven is above the earth, so much higher are His thoughts and His ways. Again, His ways are marvelous, “past finding out”. Amen.