I stand again at the fork in the road. One leads within and one without.
The outer pathway leads to the familiar – I’ve trod this pathway many times before.
It’s easy to navigate, with plenty of pit stops. All signs say it was built with me in mind. I love it’s promise of liberty.
I can do what I want, when I want – and be comfortable to boot. I dawdle here, stopping to pick up bits of satisfaction all along the way.
Yet, each time I satisfy one passion, another screams for attention. One desire spawns another until I’m not sure what I really want anymore. I eat, or sleep, or shop or surf – all to escape the cacophony. But the gnawing seems only to grow. The more I get, the more I want. My needs remain unmet and yet, I anxiously crave for more.
“Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” (James 3:15-16)
And then I remember the fork.
This inner pathway leads only to the unseen.
When I walk this path, I realize that I’m not the main figure here, but He is. It is not my will, my desire, my wants – but His that is being manifested along this road. I am not central.
The longer I walk here, the more distant the view of the outer road becomes. When I keep looking ahead, I see more of His Kingdom, both beyond and before, while noticing less and less the mess that is “me”.
Along the inner path, I am not alone with my fear. Because He is with me, I shall not want. The cessation of desire is the true pathway of joy and peace. In giving Him my desires, they gradually decline over time. I find myself with the desires of my heart because that desire is Singular.
So today, again, I choose the unseen way. Even as I begin, I am timid, because it is indeed the road less traveled. I cling to the promise of His Presence and ask that He guide my weak and feeble steps.
“The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:17-18).
Which way will you choose?
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