Roads: Let the Poet Speak

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

"The Road Not Taken", Robert Frost

Remember this poem by Robert Frost? Surely you read it in high school and had to analyse it, and determine if there was a positive or negative result from his choice of which road to take. I remember my high school English teacher discussing this poem with my class, and each student took this to be a positive poem, indicating that he took the road less traveled by and the difference it made was good. I remember the teacher crushing my assumption that I was correct when she suggested quite plainly that perhaps the poet did not intend it to have a positive connotation. Perhaps there was regret by the road he took. It is called, "the road not taken."

This completely changed my way of reading poems, which is probably what my teacher was hoping for. It taught me to open myself up to what the poet was saying, without bringing my own perspective and desires of what I wanted it to be. It taught me how to let the words of the poet speak.

This is how it is with God. He is the poet. We are always trying to make what we want out of His work. The truth is, I have a choice everyday. If I choose to give God glory in everything I do, whether it's encouraging someone, writing, or processing paperwork in the office, I am giving God the opportunity to use me how He chooses. When I open myself up to that, God's plan will unfold, not mine. That may not satisfy my own wishes, but I am moody, emotional, and easily swayed by the day's events. I can't always see what is best. But the Master Poet does.