Discerning Pathways and Shortcuts

Let’s take a look at something most of us do at least once a day if not many times a day.  That would be when we leave our home, work, or any other place we might find ourselves, for a particular destination and return to the original starting place. If you’re like me, you may take one route to your destination and a different route back to your original starting place. When asked why you took different routes between the same points you may say something like, “well it seemed easier to go a different way back than the way I came.” Then you make another trip to the same place you recently traveled to and from.  More times than not, you take the same route as before to the destination and a different route in returning.

Now we turn our attention to the back seat drivers and the friends that tell us there’s a shorter route to our destination than we’re using. Everyone has their own way of getting from point A to point B. This moves us to the old idiom, “different strokes for different folks.” Basically, this means that different people do things in different ways that suit them.

Let us now crank up our engines and head for a wonderful destination—the presence of God. The question becomes, ‘Is that a one-way trip or round trip?’ If it’s a round trip, then on our way back home do we lose some of the blessing that His presence gave us? Is the best choice then to move in with God?  
“Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint” — we read in Isaiah 40:31 

Oswald Chambers tells us, “There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person…… Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually.”

Unlike our earthly pursuits, we should avoid making trips to and from God, coming and going on different routes.  We walk with Him always. He is always there walking, even if we don’t recognize Him. Like the “footprints in the sand” story reveals, God carries us from time to time. We must never think we walk by ourselves, ignoring God’s Love and Grace.

No matter how painful life becomes for us, the sense that we’re always walking with God gives us 24/7 comfort through His Holy Spirit. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus tells us,  ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Many of us change residences, moving to new homes from time to time for a variety of reasons, for example a job change, better location, better house, cheaper rent or mortgage, etc. When we move in with God, we mark the last move of our lives. When we move in with God it means that we have spent time preparing for the one way trip. Unlike moving to a new house where we pack our belongings to take with us, in moving in with God we do the packing after we get there for He has much to load upon us. The good news is: that which He loads upon us is weightless so our trip into eternal life with Him is a blessing.