One kind pf path is straight, broad and smooth. I like these kinds of paths because you can see far ahead to where you are going and how you will get there. The going is easy. It's hard to get lost because the destination is always in view. It’s hard to get tripped up because obstacles are few and usually easy to spot.
The other type of trail is the crooked, narrow and hilly one. It is a more difficult route. It is easy to get lost so one needs a guide, a GPS or a map and compass. It is easy to get injured from the pitfalls. Sometimes you're not even sure where the trail is. And since you can't see your destination, you never have any idea how far away it is.
But there are some downsides to the straight, broad and smooth path.
In Thailand the roads are crooked and congested and one always has to be on alert for motorcycles that seem to appear out of nowhere and suddenly you are about to hit one. I remember going back to North America for the first time, driving south on I-5 through Oregon. I told Ingrid I needed a motorcycle to come out of nowhere and do something foolish to help keep me awake.
On the straight path one can easily get complacent. Since everything seems straight and uniform, you might quit paying attention and wander off the trail or into some kind of danger. Or if something unusual does come up, you might not be prepared.
These straight, smooth routes can be quite boring. One might quit, just because there does not seem any point to keep going. Or one might get distracted by something that seems more exciting off to the side and so never make it to the destination. Like the wayward woman of Proverbs, "she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it." (Proverbs 5:6 ESV)
In the same manner, not everything is bad about the crooked, narrow, hilly trail. You are forced to be alert. There always seems to be something new to see, so it is much harder to get bored. So while it may seem to take longer to get to your destination, you are may have more fun along the way.
Our journeys through life can be much the same as one of these two roads. Sometimes we get tired of the obstacles and trying to find our way on the narrow, crooked and hilly trail. Sometimes we wish we had taken the straight, smooth trail. But then we need to remember that not everyone who embarks on the straight smooth trail makes it to their destination. Or maybe they make it to the destination and find out it's not where they really want to be.
So even if we find ourselves on a crooked, narrow, hilly path, if God is guiding us, we are okay.
As the Lord spoke to Isaiah, "And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them."
Isaiah 42:16 (ESV)
If we're on the path God has chosen for us, even if there are obstacles, we need to stay the course.
Stay on the path that the LORD your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy. (Deuteronomy 5:33 NLT)
For in spite of the difficulties, this is where true joy and pleasure are found.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11 ESV)
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