Does obedience lead to rest?

I am at a crossroad. I can take the easy path or I can take the hard path.

As I was leaving church today, I was headed toward the easy path. The city roads that get me home in approximately the same amount of time no matter the day or hour. As I was preparing to turn right down the easy path, I made the decision to turn left. At that moment, I had no idea God was going to use I94-E to illustrate His desires for me.

Before I had even gotten into my car, I decided that I was going to use the time it took to drive home to listen for God’s voice. I didn’t know if He was going to speak. I didn’t know if I was going to hear Him.

I heard the sirens as I merged onto the freeway, and very quickly after I sped up to 60 miles an hour, I realized the ambulance, lights flashing, was behind me. I pulled to the side, and suddenly traffic slowed to a crawl. The ambulance sped past on the 2-lane interstate, and I stood still.

As I crawled along I94-E, I began thinking about that past fifteen minutes. Why did I want to take the city roads? There is certainty in taking the city roads. Sure, I’ll hit a stop light here or there, and maybe get stuck behind a slow driver, but most often, I will get home in approximately 25 minutes regardless. Why did I hesitate to take the freeway? There is uncertainty in taking the freeway, especially since there is construction that brings it from a 3 to a 2-lane highway. If I hit traffic, it might take me 45 minutes to get home. Ugh!

I chose to take the uncertain path today, of course, with the hopes that it would be even easier than the easy path. Unfortunately (because it took me a long time to get home)…or fortunately (I heard God’s voice)…whichever way I look at it, it turned out to be the hard path. Full of uncertainty and the “W” word. Waiting. There have been many times I have wanted to scramble those dreaded letters and officially take the word out of the Dictionary, but of course, I have no bearing on which words can be rejected…I don’t even know if words can be rejected. Anyway, here I sat in my sputtering Hyundai waiting (there’s something wrong with the mass air flow system so at times I thought I was going to be holding up traffic even longer w/ a dead car on the already 1-lane down highway).

I began thinking about a situation I am in right now in which I just want to take the easy path. I know, however, that God is asking me to choose the other path, the one with all kinds of uncertainty. I want with every ounce of energy to run down the easy path and never look back. As I continued to creep along the road, I saw an opportunity to get on to the blessed easy path! An exit ramp back to the city roads. I could be home in no time. As I was pondering this, I felt an overwhelming desire to continue down the hard path…to fight…to obey…to eventually conquer. Just past the exit, traffic began moving a little bit more quickly, and finally, I was on an open road working my way back up to 60 mph. Freedom.

I felt God saying, “Daughter, I’m calling you to the hard path, and I want you to obey. I know it is uncertain, and you’re scared but listen, baby girl, I want you to believe that I will be with you as you work your way through, and ultimately, you will find freedom at the end.”

I am choosing the hard road for a second time today. I am choosing to obey in the midst of uncertainty and fear, knowing that freedom is just up ahead. I have never been thankful for traffic, but today I am.