The Journey.

This is actually a story I wrote for a friend. I modified it from the original.

The journey began, a simple way of going, though it promised to be long and arduous at times, but the traveler deemed himself ready. Taking the first steps, he found that it was a good way of going, that the end of the road would bring him to where he needed to be, where he wanted to be. He enjoyed the beginning stretch of the journey as it found him in high spirits and filled with joy. Nothing could touch him, the ground beneath him firm and stable. But soon, the road wound up becoming steeper and harder to follow, it became narrower and in places, the road could barely be seen. For the first time he found himself frightened by losing the path. There were markers signaling where the road should go, but after a while, even those disappeared. Finally, he stopped. The last marker was at the base of a huge mountain. He arched his neck back but could not even see the top of the mountain for it was hidden in clouds. He thought he could make out the thin line of a path winding back and forth up the mountain. But he could not see where he could get to that path. He knew that he had to get to the top of the mountain, somehow, for that was where he needed to be, where he wanted to be. But there he stood, he thought: Perhaps I can move around the mountain and find an easier way to go. So that was his decision, he stepped off the end of the path and began traversing the rough uneven ground, his feet slipping beneath him. But instead of heading in the direction of where he knew the path to be, he moved off in the direction where he noticed that the mountain seemed less steep. But before he got anywhere close to the mountain, he came upon a cliff unexpectedly and slipped off the edge. He fell down onto a ledge, unhurt and alive, but farther away from the mountain than he had ever been before. There was no way to climb the sheer rock face. If there was someone with a rope, they could come find me and pull me up. He thought. But there was Someone. Someone with a rope at the top of the cliff. He only had to cry out and the rope would come down and he would be saved from the ledge. The One with the rope knew that there were many who fell off this cliff onto the ledge, and He would always be faithful to reply to anyone who called out for help. And after He would pull them up from the ledge, He would guide them to where the One True Path started back up and they could continue their journey to where they needed to be, where they wanted to be.

If you find yourself on a ledge, don't accept it as your fate, there's still a mountain to climb after all. Sitting on a ledge will get you nowhere, and feeling sorry for yourself helps nothing. You need to realize that the ledge is not where you should be, and you need help to get off the ledge. You can't do it on your own. The faithful One with the rope is ready and waiting to take you from the ledge. All you have to do is trust Him.