I like the easy road. I've always been a peacemaker, trying to make everything easy. After all, then I don't have to really deal with it. I don't like making waves.
I just want the hurt to end and I will, as I always have, do whatever it takes. I want it all over and if taking the easy way out will make it happen, then I'll do it.
My attorney gently encouraged me the other day to remember that "God sometimes asks us to step out and do the hard thing."
The easy road may give us less blisters, fewer obstacles to maneuver around and possibly less chance of falling, but the easy road often does not allow us to become stronger and grow in the way that the Lord would have us.
Doing the hard thing, stepping out in faith, means relying on God to lift us up and make us strong. It can be scary, but we are not to have a spirit of fear.
A pastor once told me that I was putting my fear in the wrong place. Placing our fear in man instead of God is backward and not what our Lord wants from us.
My prayer would be for all of us who have tough choices to make and hard paths to travel to remember that God will take our sufferings, our trials and troubles, and transform them into joy. He will walk beside us through it all even when all around us fall away. He will not leave us nor forsake us.
As I step out off of the easy path and choose to do the hard thing today, I will continue to count all the blessings in my life.
#91 waking up in a warm bed
#92 warm, clean clothes fresh from the dryer to fold
#93 a job to go to this day
#94 people that surround me with love and acceptance
#95 God's continual provision
#96 two sons that continue to grow into young men and yet remain boys in need of motherly love
#97 God's word to refresh me and revive me when the road becomes too long and hard
#98 warm coffee on a cold, cloudy day
#99 an internship as a medical assistant
#100 love that surrounds me and keeps me going each and every day
May you continue to count your blessings no matter what hard thing you have in your life. And may God give you His strength to step off the easy path and do whatever hard thing He has for you.
Blessings,
Amy
