The Long Way Home
Tidbit Text: "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct
thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
Every morning as we (the Lord and I) commute to work, we drive along the
interstate. You see we have two choices: (1) the interstate or (2) a state road
– which has single lanes and is usually backed up. Monday the Lord told me,
"Take the state road." I just knew it would take forever to get to
work, but I had to be obedient—-we took the state road.
As we traveled down the highway, I noticed it was smooth sailing until we
came to the top of a hill. As I looked ahead, I saw traffic backed up as usual.
I thought, "I knew it would be like this," and then I began to wonder
"why would the Lord want us to go this way?" I kept asking that same
question over and over. However, I finally stopped asking and took the
attitude, "OK Lord, you’ve got me on this road for a reason; I’ll seek the
reason." So we continued on the road, the traffic crept at a pace of 15
miles per hour, and I searched for the reason why.
As we moved closer to the city one motorist got impatient, made a U-turn and
headed toward the interstate which was 5 miles back. Then the Lord spoke to me
and said, "Do you know what just happened?" I replied, "That
person did a U-Turn." He said, "Yes, but she also got off the path
she was traveling." Then as we drove just 10 more minutes we found
ourselves in the city where the highway changes into double lanes. At that
point the Lord asked, "Now what did you learn?" I then said,
"Sometimes the right path does not look like the most appealing path. We
may want to take shortcuts or a path that looks more appealing, but we have to
stay on the right path because — well, it’s the right one." There was
more but He would let me figure that out later.
When I arrived at work, I discovered that the interstate just seemed quicker
because I did more driving at a faster speed by going around the city instead
of traveling straight into the city. And so it is with our walk with Christ. We
can take the 20 mile route and go through a lot of trials and tribulations we
don’t have to go through, or we can take the 10 mile route and travel, perhaps
at a slower pace, directly to our destinations — receiving all the blessing
God has for us. The most important thing I learned is that we have to trust the
Lord to direct us in all things and He will always choose better paths for us
to take in life. If you stay on the path He has set for you, you won’t
"take the long way home" — or to work!!!!
