Two roads diverged in a wood and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
-Robert Frost
Everyone's had this moment. You want to do things a certain way but everyone is telling you to do it their way. And you follow them. You're not even 100% sure your way is right but they seem more sure than you. Maybe they are older.Maybe they've been doing it longer.
Whatever the reason, we resigned. We follow the path taken by most and look back longingly at the one we wanted to take but was full of uncertainty.
The Path Taken By Most
I had a friendship with a boy. He was the ONE person in my life (I thought at the time) that saw my strength and still wanted to be around me. He actually enjoyed it. So, as any normal junior high student girl, I thought "This is it. He's the guy of my life. He accepts me for who I am." (He didn't really,because I always felt ignored when I was weak)
But for a long time I settled (in my mind), even when I didn't like that guy anymore I believed he was the best I was going to get. Not the guy of my dreams or the best in my mind but that was the best quality level I could expect to attract. I would have someone faking strength, pretending his weaknesses weren't there, and wouldn't see me for me. Now, I could take this in a whole other direction with this but I want to stay with my original direction.
I was taking the road that was saying "You know where I go. It's safe. You won't be alone. If you go the other way who knows if you will ever have anyone that will take notice again. Most likely not."
The Road Less Traveled Speaks
And as my heart would resign to the voice of the first road, a voice whispered "What if? What if you can everything you really want? You can't see where I go but you know what can be down this road. But you won't experience it if you settle now."
Confused, but swayed enough by the second voice, I rolled over and continued to cry on my bed. Just because I decided not to take the first road didn't mean I had the confidence to go down the other.
This is one example in love, but the voice telling you to follow what you are certain of, what the other people around you are doing too, you should follow. They are the formulas to follow. The scripts already written for your life.
"Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing...Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life; gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation" (My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers)
What we see as common sense is not always the right advice for our life. When I was going to China and I had to raise $11,500 for it. I needed $5000 of it before I boarded the plane. I had $2500 two weeks before we left. Several people asked if this is really what God wanted for me to do right now. I didn't know how to respond. I thought I knew that God wanted me to go but circumstances were saying something very different. Someone I respected told me that I should consider other options if this doesn't work out and she even had some info printed out for me. So that was my back up plan. That was the formula: when (what you want)+(what you need to do it) don't equal success at the appropriate amount of time then that equals God doesn't want you to do it.
But if we go by that formula then God did not want me to go to China. I didn't even have the $5000 I needed when I got on the plane. But I went. And I stayed for the whole nine months of the trip.
"There are no formulas with God. Period. So there are no formulas for the man who follows him." (Wild At Heart by John Elderedge)
God doesn't use formulas in our lives. He's not bound by formulas but we always want to put them on him. It's how we stay certain that things are alright. That things are in control.
God's a formula breaker. Look at Jesus he doesn't heal the same way twice. It's always different. The battle at Jericho, was it successful? Heck yes! But Israel never does it again. God's a dangerous guy who walks on the wild side of life. We are intrigued by the mystery of him but we don't want to take the risk to get out of the boat and on the water with him.
So here's the road. It's diverging. Which one are you going to take? Me, I'm taking the one less traveled and it's already making all the difference. But, it's not easy.
"Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as he is with you" -Oswald Chambers
Let God continue to be original with you.
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