After listening to me for hours, a counselor once told me that I always take the hard road. She didn’t mean that as a compliment. I have a long history of choosing the more difficult way of working through things. I don’t do it on purpose, it’s just the choices I make.
One of my favorite Bible characters is Caleb. When Moses sent spies into the land that God had promised to give His people, Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies who believed that God would indeed defeat their foes and give them the land. The other ten spies let their fears overcome their faith and did not believe that God could give them victory. Forty years later, when Joshua was parceling out the land, Caleb asked for the most difficult land. It was a land of hills, fortified cities and giants. Caleb was 85 years old at the time, but he believed that God would overcome the obstacles, fight for him, and give him victory.
Joshua 14:11-12 records Caleb’s request: “I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me: my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”
When faced with a faith decision, how often do we take the way that is easier for us. In so doing, we are denying that God is able to accomplish the task and give us the victory. Many times choosing the difficult way is the right decision and a decision that will lead to victory by faith.
Reluctant Retiree 