The Good Path Home

What makes life a “good path?” This is a question we all wonder. Is it a life free from struggle? Is it a path of great achievement? Is it a path of success and recognition? Or is there something deeper? Well, the scripture suggests that the “good path” isn’t defined by how easy life is, but the direction that we take in it. The good path is a path of trust and obedience. The good path is living in faith and trust in God who knows the destination.

Today, we honor the life and legacy of Wepong Louise. I had a wonderful opportunity to speak with Wepong’s brother, Mbuh Payne, and he shared with me that Wepong was named after her great-grandmother, and the name means “good path” or “good luck.”

And I thought to myself, “What a fitting name for a woman like her who had a deep and abiding faith.” It is as if God wrote a promise on her life from the very beginning. The Bible often speaks of life as a journey, a path we walk. And in our reading today, God gives us the very map for that journey.

Proverbs 3:5-6 - “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

This scripture was not just a verse that Wepong knew; it was a verse she lived out. This is the truth that she held on to. Wepong trusted God to make her path straight, and God led her all the way home.

A PATH OF TRUST AND SERVICE

The first step on any good path is a path of trust. Verse 5 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart.” This is an all-in commitment. This is the decision to place the full weight of your life, hopes, and future into the loving hands of God. The Scripture continues in verse 6, “In all your ways submit to him.”

Wepong was a dedicated servant in the church. She was an elder in the Presbyterian Church she attended in Cameroon. Wepong was a Sunday school teacher who faithfully nurtured the faith of the next generation. Her life was community-focused. She was always caring, always loving, and always building up those around her. This was Wepong living out Proverbs 3. This was her saying, “Lord, in all my ways–in my church, community, family–I trust in you and submit to your grace.”

And because Wepong trusted God to make her path straight, God led her all the way home.

A PATH MADE STRAIGHT THROUGH UNCERTAINTY

So often, we mistake a “good path” or a “straight path” for an easy life. We imagine that when God says He will make your paths straight, we imagine a life free of obstacles. But that’s not the reality of our world, and it’s not the promise of God. A good path means a life where God walks with us through the hills and valleys of life we go through. Good path means that even when we are wandering or when things are uncertain, God is always guiding our steps with purpose.

Wepong came to America in 2010. She left the familiar and stepped into an entirely new setting, and that process was not easy for her. We also know that Wepong had a desire in her heart to become a pastor, but as she lived in America, life was so busy, and the demands of work and family did not lead her to the path that she desired.

And when we look at that, we think that it is an unfulfilled dream. We might be tempted to see that as a loss. But God’s promise is that HE makes the path straight. What we see as a loss, God sees as an opportunity for victory; what we see as detour, God sees as the direction. God made her path straight even through uncertainties.

And because Wepong trusted in God to make her path straight, God led her all the way home.

A PATH THAT ENDS AT HOME

Now, many of us know that Wepong was young. She was only 45. This weighs heavily on our hearts. We might say that this is too soon. It is a path cut short. But this is the moment where the words from Proverbs becomes our comfort and our lifeline. We must trust in the Lord with all our hearts. We must lean not on our understanding. Because our understanding sees a tragedy, but God’s truth reveals a triumph.

The “good path” of Wepong and the “straight path” of the proverb were never just promises for a long and easy life. They are a promise of a journey with a destination. And that destination has always been, and always will be, our eternal home, heaven.