Surrendering Shortcuts

What are the groundrules? 
What shortcuts are okay?

Often I have taken the long way around...

http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/ reminded me that our hearts are idol makers - always seeking to other than God.  We turn to producing Ishmael or to Egypt to give us a shortcut. 

I have eaten to manage pain, to feel better - not a healthy way to live.

I benefit from walking this path however - healthy ways to relate to God, others and myself.

Daily I must surrender the shortcuts I want to take - I mean the ones that are not true shortcuts, the ones that only look like short cuts but are actually "longcuts."   My dad used to occasionally take us on drives and he was always exploring the "long-cuts."  Sometimes it was pleasant, but often it was four kids crammed together in a car and driving where it was rural...through towns with no public amenities, just a change of speed limit, but I'm sure must have great character if I returned to them as an adult.

And yet, I can also see that I did not appreciate the long-cuts for what they were.  Surrendering to the will of the road.  Taking the path you were on no matter how it curved until eventually we returned home - hungry again.

Today, I attempted to talk to young teens about healthy ways to deal with life, the promises they were about to make as they were planning to enter into church membership.  I wanted to actually dialogue, but only had time for teaching.  I wished we could have found our way around to a good longcut - but by 10:30 we were starting to run over.  

We make such serious promises and then forget them as we seek the short cuts.  It's time to look at vows I've made in my lifetime and re-evaluate as part of the stage of life I am in. 

So today, I enjoy the long way around.  An extra trip to get a forgotten item.   A quiet time.  But at the same time, I surrender both the longcuts and the short cuts to be present in both.


Note to self - yet another start - return to this...