The Desire Path

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

-Isaiah 43:18-19

The woods near my parent’s house used to be just a forest, an undisturbed wilderness. There was no way through, until my family and neighbors created a “desire path,” a simple course that eventually became something distinct and walkable, the chosen route. Years later, our local land trust would put up trail markers, signs, and maps, officially deeming it a trail, and a beloved one at that. 

In her “Get Out of Your Head” study, Jennie Allen compares this kind of process to choosing healthy thought patterns: “At first the path is marked by flattened leaves on foot-worn soil. But over time demand for that path will cause someone to come in and pave and install mile markers. Eventually the path is so clear cut that it would be senseless to take another route. That is just the path you always take.” 

I wonder if this is what God begins to do in our hearts once we’ve surrendered our lives over to Him. In my own faith walk, I’ve seen Him make ways through the thickets of my stubbornness, like cutting a fresh route through dense forest. Although learning to choose Christ’s ways over my own has sometimes felt impossible, over time it becomes easier and easier, until it is a well-worn road. 

“Although learning to choose Christ’s ways over my own has sometimes felt impossible, over time it becomes easier and easier, until it is a well-worn road.” 

In Philippians 3, the apostle Paul encourages believers to forget what is in the past and to keep moving forward. He says, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (v. 13-14). We find echoes of this sentiment in Isaiah 43, where the prophet Isaiah also encourages the Israelites to “forget the former things” and “not dwell on the past” (v. 18). He tells them to be on the lookout for God and the new ways He’s working in their lives, making paths through the “wilderness” and “wasteland,” the impossibilities of our situation or maybe our hearts (v. 19).  

Are there any habits or thoughts that you want to “forget” or release, or are there any truths you need to keep remembering as you walk with Christ? Ask God to help you choose the right path. Because when we choose His ways over ours, His thoughts over our own, it will eventually become our “desire path.” It will become the choice we make every time. One step at a time. 

Daneem Kim serves as a youth leader at Maine Street Baptist Church in Brunswick, Maine.