Joyful Ruins

“He didn’t say anything about shorter, He only said better.”

The Horse and his Boy by C.S. Lewis is a treasure trove of spiritual truths. I was reading it and had to underline this particular sentence. If there is ANY culture that needs to embody this truth, it is the American culture.

We constantly seek shortcuts and quick fixes. We go to drive thrus, tap our feet while waiting in lines, we order things online that we expect to come tomorrow, and we take medicine after medicine to fix our sleep, our mood, our aches, as quick as possible!

God does not often work that way. He can do anything instantaneously and He will in your life. You may find forgiveness in your heart over night or a prayer answered within seconds. Those moments are miraculous, but, from my experience, are not His choice of preference.

It seems to me that when God really wants to work in someone, He puts them on a slower, longer journey. We see it in the Bible repeatedly. Joseph spends years in slavery and prison. David is a shepherd boy in obscurity for most of his young life. Jesus spent 30 years of His perfect life outside of traditional ministry. God is not slow to keep His promises, but to Him a day is 1000 years and 1000 years is like a day.

He is a God of quality over quantity. Following Christ is a longer way, more arduous and slower than the world’s pace and path.

BUT the reality is, that this path is better, not easier, shorter, or more abundant with blessings, but BETTER.

It leads to more of Jesus, leads to heaven, spiritual growth, increased faith.

In The Horse and his Boy, it is the path that leads to water where the thirsty and hot travelers drink deeply. The other path may be quicker, but there is no water there to quench your thirst.

This Better path also has the perfect timing in the book, though, our character does not feel like it is good timing, he feels quite the opposite. In a round about, seemingly random way, the children and horses make it to safety just in time and because they went on this round about path, they also get to play a part in delivering the people of the land from death.

While you read, it seems like their journey is taking far too long for things to end well, but it is actually BECAUSE of the longer going, that things work out the way they do.

This is true in our lives as well. The longer road seems to be heading nowhere, while others take shortcuts. But, our path leads us to things working for good. God is leading us at His pace because His understanding is perfect. He provides us with water and safety along the way. It is truly the better path.

So, let us not forget there may be faster paths, but if God leads you on a longer and slower path, it is because it is BETTER.