THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS

 

There really are no shortcuts to living out our lives…….each day must be lived out, each 24 hours must tick away before we move on to the next day and the day after that.

Have you ever noticed that when things are going well for us or we are doing something fun that the time flies?  But when we go through the tough stuff of life, time seems to slow down in an agonizing way.  So much so, that if we could, we would take a shortcut through just to get to the other side of it all!  If you are at all like me, then you don’t like pain of any kind!

The truth is there are no shortcuts…….with the LORD there are none either.  Have you ever asked: why now LORD?  Why the hard diagnosis, why the accident, why the devastating loss of either family or friends……..why now?

We all go along in our lives wanting to be happy, healthy, loved and free.  And often we have made our own plans to do just that……..but GOD’S plans always come before ours.

PSALM 16:9 “THE HEART OF MAN PLANS HIS WAY, BUT THE LORD ESTABLISHES HIS STEPS.”

If you wonder why the hard thing is before you, it is because you must go through it to get to the other side.  How do you know that there isn’t something better waiting there for you?  How do you not know that what you will learn going though your trial will not mature and strengthen your faith?  But even better, how do you not know that your specific trial will glorify GOD in a mighty way?

Look back and see that your trials are HIS way of coming close.

A shortcut through trial is never an answer as much as we would like our trials to be short and quick and to the point.  Our trials are HIS purpose for us because they produce in us perseverance and Christian character.  

I used to say, “LORD, how long is this going to go on?”  But now I am inclined to say, “LORD, what can I learn through this, show me and grow me.”

The LORD does take our tough stuff, our ugly stuff and HE turns it into something beautiful and redeemed…….because there is always something better, always there is HOPE.  CHRIST is our great HOPE, our best HOPE and our HOPE eternal.

Our character should be a reflection of HIS character, but only by going through those hard things that eventually refine and mature us.  The world wants those shortcuts, those quick fixes……..but what are the results from those temporary fixes?

Life is not and never will be a sprint……it is a marathon with no shortcuts that will get us to our destination quickly.  We need to live out our days by being fruitful, living in step with GOD and being in tune with what HE is doing in us, through us and for us.

Keeping in step with GOD guides us through the hard stuff of life, HIS word being our anchor and HIS touch being our peace.  So don’t look for the shortcut, look for the solid road paved with all HIS goodness and grace. 

HE will meet you on that road, just like HE did with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  They were devastated by what had just happened the Friday before and like our GOD always does, HE stood among them and said: “Peace to you.”  HE also asked them…….

“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” LUKE 24: 38

There is no need to doubt, doubt HIS word and HIS promises for us!  There is no need for shortcuts, because HE is always with us on that road to eternity, guiding us, sustaining us, maturing us and reconciling us!  HIS power alone will help sustain us through.  HIS power alone with help us put one foot in front of the other when we don’t know which way to turn.  And HIS power alone will help us live in the present day and each day we live until we are called to our eternal home!

ACTS 2:28 “YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE PATHS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.”