God’s calling for our life is no cakewalk. Indeed it is a burden. And there are many moments in which we are tempted to consider an easier path. But we quickly remember there’s nowhere else for us to turn to find the true peace, joy, and life we were made for.
This is nothing new. The children of Israel were tempted to go back to Egypt when things got hard on the way to the Promised Land, because at least it was familiar and known. And Jesus asked the Twelve if they too were going to leave him when he was teaching things hard to understand as others had done. Peter did not deny the difficulty of what Christ was saying, but he also recognized there was nowhere else for them to go to receive the words of eternal life.
And it’s this same tension we face as we remain obedient to the path God has given us – staying engage with our wife and kids, speaking up in difficult conversations, or taking a step of faith that appears crazy to everyone else. Whatever it looks like, it is difficult and hard, and all human reason says to turn around and find an easier way.
And yet in our sober moments we know the truth. Behind all our anxieties and fears, moments of despair and desperate attempts to control, there is nowhere else for us to go except where the Spirit leads.
Our prayer then is for the grace to keep our eyes on Jesus even as the winds howl and the waves crash around us. There is an easier path with plenty of company. But we must take the road less traveled with God if we want to drink deeply of his living waters.
Where will you turn when things get hard?
Photo by Huynh Van
