When We Take the Wrong Path

When We Take the Wrong Path

 — By M.T. Clark — P-1974, 05/27/2026 — Today’s Audio Podcast 

Today’s Message on YouTube:

Today’s photo of a lone leafy tree standing on a rocky summit clearing — overlooking the rolling green hills of Vermont and the Adirondacks under a wide cloudy sky — comes to us from yours truly, who captured this view from the top of Mount Antone in the Merck Forest and Farmland Preserve in Rupert, VT on May 25, 2025.

Well, it’s Wednesday, and I share this photo from Mount Antone’s peak to represent our arrival at another midweek summit. Happy Hump Day! We are halfway through the week, and the Lord has been faithful to see us this far, and we can trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us forward, even if we should take a wrong turn every once in a while. 

Our series, “Walking in the Spirit,” continues today with a truth about what happens when we realize we are on the wrong path.

When We Take the Wrong Path

The Spirit-led life does not mean we always pick the right way.

The photo I share on the blog today comes from a real moment in TammyLyn’s and my walk together — Memorial Day weekend 2025, on top of Mount Antone in Vermont. We had hiked up to the summit, taken in the view, and then started back down. 

Shortly after the photo was taken, we made a wrong turn out of the park. We took a trail that we assumed was ours, but it was not. 

By the time we figured out we had taken the wrong path, we were deep enough into the woods that we had to bushwhack our way back to a trail that would lead us home. 

Ten miles and roughly eight hours later, we made it back to our cabin.

The Lord taught me two things on that hike that I am still learning to apply to the Spirit-led life. First — never assume a trail is your trail unless you confirm it. Second — trust your wife as much as you lead her. Both of these lessons translate to walking in the Spirit.

The Spirit-led life is full of moments where we assume we are on the right path. Maybe we have walked similar paths before. Maybe the entrance looked familiar. Maybe everyone else on the path seemed to know where they were going. So we walk. Sometimes for hours. And then we realize the landscape no longer matches the map. 

The Holy Spirit was not the one who chose this path. Our flesh did. Our presumption did. Our comfort with what felt familiar did.

Proverbs 14:12 (NKJV) tells us:

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” 

The Bible is honest about this. Some ways look right and are not. Some ways feel right and are not. 

The discernment of the Spirit-led life is not just about choosing well at the beginning of the journey — it is also about recognizing when we have gone astray and being willing to turn around.

Isaiah 30:21 (NKJV) tells us:

“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”

The Holy Spirit speaks behind us. Sometimes ahead of us. Sometimes, through the people walking with us. He does not abandon us when we take the wrong path. He calls us back. “This is the way, walk in it.” 

The Spirit-led life is not the life of the person who never gets lost. It is the life of the person who learns to hear God’s voice that calls them back.

Now here is the second lesson — the one about trusting TammyLyn as much as leading her. On that long bushwhack back to the cabin, my wife had instincts I did not have. She caught things I missed. She made suggestions I almost dismissed. By the time we found our way back, I had a much sharper appreciation for the woman the Lord had given me — not just as someone I am called to lead, but as someone I am called to trust. 

The Holy Spirit speaks through the people He has placed in our lives. If we are only ever leading and never receiving, we miss half of what He has provided.

This applies broadly to the Spirit-led life. 

The Lord rarely gives us the whole path through one channel. He speaks through Scripture. He speaks through prayer. He speaks through the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. He speaks through other believers. He speaks through circumstances. He speaks through the wise counsel of spouses, mentors, pastors, and fellow travelers on the road of Christian Discipleship.

A Spirit-led believer learns to listen on multiple frequencies. The way off the wrong path often comes through the voice of someone the Lord has placed beside us for exactly this moment.

If you suspect you are on the wrong path — turn back. The Lord is not angry with you for wandering. He is calling you back with a voice behind you that says, “This is the way, walk in it.”

And if you have someone walking alongside you whom the Lord has provided — a spouse, a sponsor, a mentor, a fellow believer — listen to them. The Holy Spirit may be guiding you to the way back through their voice.

As we walk in the Spirit, let’s remember to check our progress from time to time by asking ourselves: 

Am I on the path the Lord set before me? Or have I wandered off course? 

The Holy Spirit is faithful to redirect us. He has been redirecting his people from the beginning, and He is not going to stop now.

Keep on walking and talking with God. — M.T.

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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”

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