"Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."
I've heard that line from Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken so many times, but until now I don't know that it ever really made sense to me. The road that is well traveled is safe, and easy to follow. At one point or another all of us have taken that path, and while life does not allow us to go back, it does constantly present us with forks in the road. But the longer we choose the easy path, the harder it gets to leave it. But leave it we must for the road less traveled by, and that will make all the difference.
Something that just came to my mind is from my first backpacking trip with Jeremy. Our initial plans had been scrapped, and so we were sort of making up our own route as we went. We were hiking along the shore of Lake Michigan so there really wasn't any way to get lost, but we simply had a map and were figuring it out as we went. We had just gotten to a small town on the shore, one of those summer retreat places that rich people have, and we had taken off our packs to rest. We pulled out the map and were planning our route back to the truck and we started a conversation with one of the locals. He looked at our map and told us about another path, one that would be a bit of challenge, but was a more direct route to where we needed to get.
I'm not even sure if it was really a hiking path. It wasn't on our map at all. But we decided to follow his directions and go for it. It took us about an hour to hike to the "secret" path, and when we did there was a truck pulling off of it. He stopped and we asked if it lead to where we were going. His reply, "Yeah. You've got a [heck] of a hill to climb." He wasn't kidding. We were passed by two or three other vehicles, one of them was a park ranger who was amazed we were hiking this path with 40 pound packs, but no other hikers. This was definitely the road less traveled by. The regular path followed the shore line and was pretty level, and we passed a ton of people on the beach. But this one really tested us, and there is still a sense of satisfaction I have today because we took that path.
In life our way is similar. While the travelers of this path are few, we are in good company. We walk in the footsteps of the heroes of the faith. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, Paul, Jesus, they have blazed this trail, we must choose to follow, and because they have gone ahead of us, we are able to.
"Where would we be if Jesus was not fierce and wild and romantic to the core? Come to think of it, we wouldn't be at all if God hadn't taken that enormous risk of creating us in the first place. Most men spend the energy of their lives trying to eliminate risk, or squeezing it down to a more manageable size... If it works, if a man succeeds in securing his life against all risk, he'll wind up in a cocoon of self-protection and wonder all the while why he's suffocating. If it doesn't work, he curses God and redoubles his efforts and his blood pressure. When you look at the structure of the false self men tend to create, it always revolves around two themes: seizing upon some sort of competence and rejecting anything that cannot be controlled."
Where would we be if Jesus was not fierce, wild and romantic? Stuck as slaves to sin, trying desperately, and failing miserably, to fulfill the law. If God hadn't created us we simply wouldn’t be. If He hadn't taken the risk of love and therefore free will, we wouldn't have any choice in what we did or what our lives looked like. We are made in the image of God who risks everything for us, and so we are made for risk.
But many spend their lives working to reduce it. They sacrifice their strength for security and end up miserable and bored. The more we try to control life the more life we lose. "You literally sacrifice your soul and your true power when you insist on controlling things." What excitement is there when everything is under control and predictable?
Yesterday as I was writing there was some commercial on that had something to do with some tropical beach vacation. I think this is a perfect example of all of this. Most people that I've heard talk about their ideal dream vacation involves something like that, but I have to ask why? What excitement is there sitting on a beach or a boat? Why do people enjoy going somewhere to sit in hotel? I'd be bored to death in that setting. "How do you beat boredom... Adventure?"
Take the beach, give me the mountains with my backpack. Give me a river with my canoe and some camping gear. Let me explore the wild with just my knife, fire starter, and some essential equipment. Put me somewhere that things aren't planned out and controlled. Let me be somewhere where anything can happen. As Jeremy and I hiked that first day we kept looking at the sky behind us, it was getting dark and looked like it might storm. As we got our campsite for the night, one of the rangers warned us of a bear that was occasionally seen in the area. I was sad we only had two days up there.
Life does happen. There are things we can't avoid and have to take care of. But let me ask you a question, "If you had permission to do what you really want to do, what would you do?" Anything at all what would it be? "Don't ask how; that will cut your desire off at the knees. How is never the fight question; how is a faithless question... How is God's department. His is asking you what. What is written in your heart? What makes you come alive?... You see, a man's calling is written on his true heart, and he discovers it when he enters the frontier of his deep desires."
John points out that this is not permission to engage in sin. This is not permission to leave your wife or abandon your kids. "There is a design God has woven into the fabric of this world, and if we violate it we cannot hope to find life." Permission is not given to us to engage in sin, God does not give us sinful desires of our heart. Galatians 5.1 says, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." That same chapter contains the Fruit of the Spirit. We recover our hearts of strength in order to live righteous lives serving God. And at that point our desire is for God and His will, and our hearts are free to receive all of His blessings. But this cannot be done when we insist on being in control. Adventure is not controlled.
"To recover his heart's desire a man need to get away from the noise and distraction of his daily life for time with his own soul. He needs to head into the wilderness, to silence and solitude. Alone with himself, he allows whatever is there to come to the surface. Sometimes it is grief for so much lost time. There, beneath the grief, are desires long forsaken." And there we find out calling, we find the will of God that will challenge us, but also satisfy us in a way nothing else ever could.
Strength demands risk. Two roads diverged in a wood, which one are you taking?
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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