"Not all those who wander are lost..."

I got to thinking in the night about the several devotionals I have written that refer to being lost somewhere and spending the hours trying to find my way.  Fortunately, God has seen fit to use those dreams as teaching tools for me and for those friends who follow my writings. In the most recent Advent devotional printed, I was inspired to recount how I see Jesus as my Mediator in some of these "wandering" episodes.  There I am always searching for my way through the crowds - looking for the exit that I know exists because I have been there before - and often a face appears somewhere close to me, obviously trying to catch up to me to guide me in the desired direction.  Usually the face is of a loved one or a trusted friend.  But as I sat to consider my contributions to our 2019 Advent Devotional booklet (the names and "faces" of Jesus), I suddenly recognized that the face I was seeing in the crowd seemed to be Jesus.  He was the One watching over me and walking near to me as I wandered, ever ready to re-route me if I veered off the path, or to keep the goal always in sight so that I did not give up!  He was serving as my guide to my desired destination - in effect, my mediator between God and me!  This realization opened up a whole new direction for me and you can see the result if you read our devotionals on our church website redcloudwes.wordpress.com/author/redcloudwes/ and I would suggest that. But let me tell you about some further thoughts I have had today about common threads in all these wandering dreams: 
first, in these times, I am never alone, and that speaks to me in two directions (God is always with me, and many others of my world are also wandering and searching); second, I know the way home because I have been there before, so I am not really lost; and third, these dreams often take place in the same area - am I re-visiting issues that have already been settled and decided? Or is there just further growth to be had and this is how the Holy Spirit chooses to direct my focus?  At any rate, I do know that dreams are often meant to help us deal with unsettled daily problems and I think I am glad that I have a Mentor and helper who knows just how I learn and grow best!  This is a wonderful and blessed Christmas season for our family as we await the birth of our newest grandchild (our 2nd grandson and our 7th grandchild) and we are extremely blessed!