Why the long way? (The best part…)

{Wednesday we asked, Why the long way? Consider a few more reasons today…}

2. The long way produces humility.

Deuteronomy 8:2 says,

“And you shall remember the long way that the LORD your God has lead you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you…”

This is not saying that God humiliates us.  I can’t defend this with Greek and Hebrew, but I believe there is a kind and gentle way that God produces humility in us that is not in the form of cruel humiliation.  I often pray that God would allow me to humble myself but that He would save me from humiliation.  That’s just being honest! I do want to walk in humility but I’d really rather not do something absolutely humiliating to get there.  Anybody else?

When our path is quick and easy we are so tempted to think it was our genius that got us there.

The root of all sin is pride, and the root of all virtue is humility. Every fruit of the Spirit is produced in the spoil of humility. Therefore nothing is more critical for our spiritual growth, our joy, our peace, than the cultivation of humility. Although it goes against our flesh, our egos, and our culture, the way up is the way down, and only through life lost is life found.

The long road requires us to be desperately dependent on God’s grace and mercy.  It is in His kindness that He chooses to humble us by the long road.

3. The long way reveals our hearts.

There’s more to Deuteronomy 8:2.  It reads,

“And you shall remember the long way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments or not” (vv2-3). (See also Deut. 13:3, Judges 3:4, 2 Chronicles 32:31)

Now I have struggled with this one.  God already knows what’s in our hearts.  So why would He need to do something to reveal it to Himself?  Does He reveal it to Himself or to us?

I don’t know.

Suffice it to say that our faith rises so the surface when we are faced with the adversity of a long road (James 1:7). It is revealed as it rises to the surface and it is refined and displayed for us to see, for God to see, for all to see–for His glory.  We may not understand how all that works, but we can agree it does work.

That is at least a little bit of why God likes the long way.

But you want to know the best part about it?

We get to be with Him along the way.

The moment we get our eyes on our Beautiful Savior the long way won’t bother us. In fact, it will just afford us plenty of time to journey with the One we love. People who are in love enjoy long road trips together.  He is on the road with us.  Yes, we may yearn and long for a promise to be revealed, for that first glimpse of the promised land that God has spoken of so often.

But really, God Himself is greater than any promised land. The best part of the being part of the nation of Israel wasn’t getting to live in the promised land, it was getting to live with YAHWEH, the great I AM.

When I get my eyes off God, I become fixated on the end of the road. On “it”. On the thing.  And the road seems excruciatingly long and the wait unbearable. But when I look and realize that the King of Kings is walking this road with me, all of a sudden it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s not about getting there.  It is, in fact, a gloriously scenic road trip with the One I love. Even if the road is curvy (or takes me in circles!), I can rest assured that God is graciously leading me to success, producing in me humility, and revealing the inner parts of my heart as I wait.  He is working all things for my good, but more importantly, He’s with me. And there’s no one I’d rather travel with than Him.

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In what way has the end goal distracted you from the Beautiful God who is right at your side?  In what way can you enjoy whatever journey you are on today? Have a glorious weekend, and thank you so much for reading.