The Easy Way

When given the choice between an easy yet ordinary life or a hard yet extraordinary life, which would you choose?

I confess that for much of my life, it’s been the easy way.

Somewhere along the way, the notion that God’s way was on easy street filled with wide, open doors had been planted in my head.  So given the choice, I would drive down the smooth, paved road.  Eventually, this way of thinking led me to quit things once I met resistance.  The easy way led me to mediocrity.

Elvis Presley sang that, “true love travels on a gravel road” and he couldn’t be more right.

The hard truth is this: the hard way is often God’s way.  He actually wants us to encounter situations that are bigger than us.  This way, we need him.  This way, he gets the credit.  This way, we experience the life in full he calls us to.  It’s in this way that we grow.

Jesus willingly took the hard way by going to the cross for you and I and he even paused to ask God the Father if there was another way.  Again, “True Love travels on a gravel road.” And with a furious love Jesus climbed the rocky road to Calvary for you and I.

Jesus showed us that when the wind of resistance comes (and they will) God will see us through it- not just get us around it.  It’s by going through the wind that we begin to experience the life we’re meant to live.

I’m learning to embrace the challenges. To push through resistance. To take the extra step. To travel on the gravel road.  To pray for wisdom and check my heart when a door does open to make sure I’m not just going the easy way, but the right way.

If “true loves travels on a gravel road” I’ll take the gravel road every time.