The Narrow Gate
January 14, 2010 | Knowing Christ, Living Free
It’s a joke we share in our family, borne out of a collision between a city girl and a country guy. We were newly dating and Richard had given me directions to a country town.
“Make a right at the Y in the road,” the next direction read. I held the paper in my hand and searched up and down the country dirt roads. Nope. No Y anywhere. So I headed back to the nearest city and made a phone call. “I can’t find it.”
“Didn’t you see the Y in the road?” Richard asked.
“I looked and looked,” I replied. “But I never saw a YMCA.”
He burst into laughter. His Y was a fork in the road. For the city girl, a Y was a place you swam and exercised.
Maybe you feel as if you are in the crossroads and the directions aren’t clear. It’s as if you and God are on two different pages. A crossroads is a place where critical decisions are made. One road takes you one way. The other takes you in the opposite direction. They don’t merge or wind back into one another.
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it. Matthew 7: 13-14
Maybe you are hesitating because the broad road seems like the most likely. It’s easier. There are benefits on that road. Could be stability (nothing like a paycheck every Friday, is there!) or a snug comfort zone or the path of least resistance.
But what if the narrow gate is marked with your destiny? Throughout scripture we often find destiny right in the heart of the dis-comfort zone.
“Follow me”, Jesus said. And they did, some to greatness, others to persecution, but ordinary men and women living life as if they found something so great that it was worth it, even if it cost them.
Maybe today you are at the crossroads. Perhaps He’s asking you to fall in love with Him all over by pursuing Him instead of other things (see the original devo – that’s what God was asking me to do). In order to do that, you have to prune and it’s going to be a challenge.
Maybe your narrow gate is taking that step of faith – you know, the one that you think someone else should take because they are better/more qualified/better equipped/fill in the blank. If it’s something that has been on your heart for a long time, and you’ve prayed about it, and it aligns with Scripture, maybe it’s time to take the next step in planning and preparing for it (not impulse).
The narrow gate is harder, don’t let anyone kid you, but there’s a real good chance you’ll discover who God is—and who you are, too—and what He’s capable of on the journey.
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What a great reminder that He didn’t promise comfortable living – we have to be willing to step out of our boxes. The yoke is easy, the burden light when we choose Him. Thank you for this much needed reminder to take that step of faith and risk all for Christ!
January 14th, 2010 at 11:01 amright now i feel my ‘narrow gate’ is to join a small group at my church. i am bordering on being overextended – with work, family, and my volunteer work, but i feel God is really directing me there. i know it seems like a small thing but i have family (and a boss) who are questioning how i will have the time. i know God will help me make it work.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:04 amThank you for this, Suzie! I know that God is needing more of me… intimately. I’ve just made excuse after excuse; the kids, cakes, youth, ministry, church functions, cooking dinner, laundry, cleaning… the list goes on and on! And yet, in the midst of it all, yes, even in the midst of youth and church events, I’m falling out of love w/ Him and losing the intimacy we once had. I’m not sure why, but all of these things culminated together have built up a wall. I know I can’t take all of these things OUT of my life, but I need to work on making them all fit, and I KNOW that if I spent more time w/ my Big Daddy, then He would make it work! God knows exactly what I need to hear exactly WHEN I need to hear it, and this was it! Thanks again
Crystal
January 14th, 2010 at 12:42 pmHey Judy,
Put it all on the table — every commitment, every volunteer position, every thing that you do that isn’t your children or husband or precious time with God. Then ask God to show you what is to stay on the table, and what is to go. Being overextended, especially when it’s affecting your loved ones and you, isn’t healthy. When God is opening a door, He’s usually asking you to prune. It may be the very thing you think no one else can do but you, but I promise there will be others to fill that place.
Obey Him, but with absolute wisdom.
Suzie
January 14th, 2010 at 2:15 pm“So I headed back to the nearest city and made a phone call.”
Did your cell not have service??? haha
I like this post alot, although for me it is feeling more like a pitchfork in the road.
January 14th, 2010 at 7:38 pmThank you so much for this post.
In the fall I began leading a Discussion group for Discipler’s Bible study. That alone was a huge step of faith for me. I have prayed and followed God. Never before have I felt so close to him. Last week I was asked to take on another role in the bible study. Your comment “the one that you think someone else should take because they are better/more qualified/better equipped” says exactly what I have been thinking. I am not equipped for this role. But, I know that God equips the called. I am now at a crossroads of continuing in both areas or giving up the discussion leader position. I have prayed that I would allow God to mold me into the servant he wants me to be. I will continue to look for His answer.
Mary
January 14th, 2010 at 9:14 pmThe world advertises the broad road. We come to crossroads everyday (some more significant than other). Are we trusting in the world’s views or in God’s. What will we take? The broad rd or the narrow gate. We will listen to the world or to God?
January 21st, 2010 at 1:49 am