Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
In the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz” Dorothy, and her little dog Toto, were unexpectedly thrust into a dark, whirling, and destructive storm that lifted her house into the air and caused it to land in an unknown land far away from home. Amazingly, Dorothy and Toto survived and were in wonder as to where they were. The famous line from Dorothy “Toto we are not in Kansas anymore” expressed the wonder and fear as to where they found themselves. The cry and prayer of her heart was how to find a way back home. A good witch appeared and told her only the Wizard of Oz could help her and Toto back home. Dorothy made “the decision” to find the Wizard. The Good Witch gave her special shoes for the journey and told her to follow the “yellow brick road” which would lead her to the Wizard who could get her home again.
Her decision to go opened-up the way. It would be an unknown, long, and dangerous journey, but she was determined to follow the yellow brick road to her destination and home. Along the journey she would have so many different experiences, meet dangers and detours, and meet a couple of fellow companions along the way. They, too, deeply longed for something they did not have and could not get on their own, courage and heart. They, too, made the decision to walk with Dorothy to the Wizard.
At the end of their journey, they were finally able to have audience with the Wizard. What they discovered was that it was not so much the Wizard they needed to fulfill their need, wishes, and hopes, but rather through the experiences of their long journey they had what they needed all along, they just had to discover it through all the things they went through along the journey.
Famous motivational speaker and mentor, Zig Ziglar, said that; “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” It is who we are becoming during and throughout our journey that is the gift of the yellow brick road.
The journey of healing our wounded faith begins with a decision. If we have trouble trusting God because of painful, devastating, and confusing events in our lives, our journey to find healing and trust again is waiting to be revealed when we make the decision to trust Him. The decision to trust Him even when, and especially when, we cannot, changes the environment of our hearts and begins to reveal a “yellow brick road” ahead for us to follow. Our trust and faith in God will not be healed immediately, but if we continue to follow the yellow brick road, we will begin to experience healing and the love of God in ways we never imagined. Broken bones will be put back together, companions for the journey will appear and join us and we will come to know God in a most intimate way. It is a beautiful discovery of the grace, love and mercy of God that has already been poured into our hearts, but we had to discover through the experiences of the journey.
Dorothy and Toto made it back home, but not as the same young girl that left. The experiences of the journey had transformed her with a new found love for home and the discovery that she would always know the way home and her companions along the way had always been with her.
The yellow brick road of healing for broken or wounded faith is not a perfect nor a quick one. It is an adventure of danger, joy, pain, truth, and love. It reveals what is in us, but also leads us in the path that heals us. The home we are seeking to return to is not a physical location, but a condition of heart that trusts in the heart of God. It is an ever renewing, trusting heart that discovers that no matter what storms we may experience in this life, we abide in the safe, healing, and peaceful refuge of the heart of God. From this place, from this home, we continue our journey of life with ever renewing faith and the evergreen experiences of the love and grace of God in all things. It starts with a decision, then follow the yellow brick road.
