The Long and the Short of It
There are difficult ways of doing things, and easy ways of doing them. Which do you prefer?
If you're like me, you prefer the easy way--the way of least resistance. After all, expending unnecessary effort is not what I call efficient or wise.
Why is it, then, that we so often do things the hard way?
From my personal experience of doing some things the hard way, I've drawn the following conclusions. We do things the hard way because:
1) We think they are the easy way.
2) We don't take time to find out if there is an easier way.
3) We lean to our own understanding instead of seeking God's counsel.
When we fall prey to the three reasons above, we actually become victims of our own foolishness. And when that happens, we end up making our lives in general--and our writing lives in particular--difficult.
The hard way is the way of the flesh; the easy way is the way of the Spirit. Jesus said, "Take My yoke upon you . . . . For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
And that's my "musing that matters" for today. What's yours? :)
Blessings,
MaryAnn
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You're so right! There's one more reason we sometimes do things the hard way, too: for the challenge. As modern life takes away more and more of the basic challenges of life, we tend to replace those with challenges of our own. I liken it to driving to a previously unvisited destination without consulting a map or asking for directions. That makes it more of a challenge. Of course, even with a map &/or directions, sometimes there will be detours, but if we have the map, it makes finding an alternate route easier.
As we trust in the Lord with all our heart and don't lean on our own understanding (a really hard thing to do at times, even when we love Him with all our hearts), acknowledging Him in all our ways, He WILL direct our paths. Another translation says that He will make our path straight, i.e., straighten out the curves in the road.
I don't know about you, my fellow musers, but sometimes life throws enough curves in my road that the idea of having the Lord straighten them out is very appealing! After all, it's easier to drive on a smooth, flat road than it is to navigate hairpin curves on the side of a mountain (where, although the view may be wonderful, you can't stop to enjoy it)!
Thanks, MaryAnn, for making me stop and think yet again.