In 1916 renowned American poet Robert Frost published a poem he titled The Road Not Taken.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Though you might not have read the entire text, at least take a glance at the last three lines. When confronted with a choice of two diverging roads, the narrator chose the one less traveled. Here we may smile and conclude that this person was couragous and imaginative for making such a decision.

Yet the title references the road the narrator did not choose. Also, the words seem laden with regret rather than contentment. The last line, "And that has made all the difference", is neutral. By that I mean the narrator's selection could have resulted in either a positive or negative outcome.

Though the poem was penned nearly a century ago, I believe most would recognize some of the words. The reason for this may be in the empathy we feel for the author's unspoken dilemma.

In our own lives, we may lament over a career choice, the one who got away and so on. As a young person, we may think that we will have another chance to get it right, but not necessarily so. Like the author said: "Yet knowing how way leads to way, I doubted if I should ever come back." In other words, he is faced with a decision that he will likely live with it for the remainder of his days. He can never go back in time and space and make a different one.

What we may not realize is that important decisions can come on a daily basis. Even a seemingly small decision can have eternal consequences for better or worse.

It is a sobering truth, which underscores the importance of our choices and our need for judicious guidance. If we allow God to order our steps, we can be sure that through us He will make all the difference.

<>God's will is one day at a time<>