THE EASY WAY OR THE HARD WAY

DAY 173: “We can do it the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.” I remember hearing that declaration from my mother’s lips more than once when I was growing up.  The easy way meant I would simply do what I was told to do when I was told to do it – and all would be well.  The hard way meant, I would pitch a fit, have a tantrum, scream, whine, or otherwise delay the inevitable, but eventually Mom would have her way because, well, she was mom.  All these years later, I easily concede that her way was really the best way. 

 Why is it that only in hindsight does that kind of clarity come to us?  All grown up now, it isn’t my mom’s will I sometimes fight against, but my Father’s.  For all the moaning we do about “what is God’s will for my life” the truth is that most of His will is quite clear.  Love your neighbor. Forgive. Don’t complain. Share. The list of things that could occupy us “doing our Father’s will” goes on and on.  The problem isn’t that He isn’t clear, but that we would rather not obey. 

When such an impasse comes, we may feel as if we have gotten our way for a while, but eventually because God is a good, loving and responsible Father, He will get His good and perfect way.  And like the kings of old from God’s Word, “We can do it the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.”

Late into the history of Israel’s kings came Manasseh, son of the good king Hezekiah.  Manasseh though was not good.  While God made His way clear in the Law, Manasseh had other plans. Instead of worshiping the One true God and leading the people in worship, he built alters to false gods and sacrificed his own children on them. He consulted physic and mediums, and even set up a false idol in God’s temple.  The list of his offenses was long… so God led him to obedience “the hard way.”

“10The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the Lord sent the commander of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and let him away to Babylon.”

He wouldn’t follow God the easy way so it would be the hard way.  But obey he did – even one as depraved, corrupted and defiant as evil king Manasseh. 

12In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors 13And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

And so he began to do the will of God after all.  He rebuilt the walls of the temple. He got rid of the foreign gods; and he restored the alter of the Lord to service. Sadly, it took a ring in his nose and the humiliation of capture to open his eyes to the wisdom of obeying God’s will. 

But he wasn’t the only one.  After him came other kings who refused to take the easier way of obedience opting instead for the school of hard knocks.  But God is not mocked. He will have his way.  Even to the very last king, God would bend the knee of those who would not humble themselves to yield to His ways.  God had told the people from the beginning of the written law to observe a seventh year rest for the land in which no growing would take place.  He called it a Sabbath for the land.  King after king refused to enforce this clear will of God; refusing the easy way of trusting themselves into His care.

2 Chronicles 36:¹⁴ Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, 15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.

So, for the whole nation, it would be the hard way.

7 (God) brought up against them the king of the Babylonians who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.

20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.

And to think, it could have been the easy way; they could have simply trusted God to take care of them and given the land the rest God required.  Hindsight could not undo what had been done.  It could only be a faithful teacher for them when once again God gave them the chance to fulfill His will when 70 years later He sent them back into their land. 

 Not until we concede that God has the right to call the shots will we be inclined to do it His way without all the drama. After all, it really is His world and we just live in it… but that is pretty amazing when you think about what an awesome privilege that really is!! 

Where in your life do you need to take the "easy way" and follow God?

No matter how "hard" it seems it will never be as hard as 

going your own way. 

365 Bible Reading: 

2 Chronicles 35-36

1 Corinthians 1:1-17

Psalms 27:1-6

Proverbs 20:20-21