No Safe Path

Have you ever wanted to feel safe? Like you would know what was around every corner so you could be prepared? I love the randomness of life but today God has been convicting me of wanting to be safe. I often will choose a safe path instead of taking the adventure. I was thinking of Paul today and how incredibly passionate he was, how his passion fed who he was, what he did, and how deeply he loved his Savior. I think we love God as much as we allow Him in. It is hard to love God if He is unable to be God in your life, if you avoid the challenge. Too often we reduce God to someone we want to answer our wish lists, solve our problems, and keep us from danger. We do not plunge in and live deeply. The path God leads us on is very narrow and it is challenging. The Bible says that there are few that find it. He says that he who seeks to save his life will lose it. I think we get off the narrow road when we fail to take the challenge of living. I used to think the narrow road was about behavior and God certainly does want to change our character, but now I think that the narrow road is about living our life. It is about letting God lead and following Him. It is about embracing the work he has formed us for and about the plan He has for us. That is the narrow road. We get far too distracted with monitoring the behavior of the believers around us and too little time living the life God has for us. The gospel is hindered when we get off that narrow path. The gospel is hindered when we complain about the lack of safety and the struggles along the way. The path may be hard but it is good. It has the bread of life for sustenance, the living water for our thirst, and the Savior to supply that which we actually need. It is a good life if we will see it. I want to walk that narrow road instead of following the path of least resistance and the highway of desire.