This morning, I looked out of a front window and saw something strange on the driveway in front of the garage. As I focused on this thing in my driveway, it began to move. It was a small turtle [probably a Gulf Coast Box Turtle, which, I am surprised to learn, actually lives on land instead of water]. As I watched, this turtle walked toward the flower bed by my front door. There is a small plastic strip that divides the flower bed from the lawn, and the turtle was headed for the highest part of that strip.
Now, to you and me, that plastic strip, 4 or 5 inches high, would present no obstacle at all. But, to this small turtle, this was going to be a significant barrier. However, there is an opening in the plastic strip right next to the highest section. This opening is quite large enough for this turtle to walk right through. But, she seemed to be taking aim directly at the highest part of the plastic strip. I watched with fascination to see what would happen.
As I watched her approach the obstacle, I thought about how cool turtles are. They have inhabited this Earth, essentially unchanged, for millions [maybe?] of years. They have faced, and overcome, thousands of problems while other species have failed. Individual turtles can live amazingly long lives for such small animals [Sylvester Stallone still has the two turtles, “Cuff” and “Link”, who appeared in the movie “Rocky” - they are now about 47 years old!], and thus acquire much life experience and knowledge. Turtles’ faces kind of make them look like wise old men. What wisdom might they be able to impart to us if we could only understand their thoughts?
All of these ideas went through my mind as the little turtle made her way toward the barrier. [Remember, turtles move slowly.] This turtle looked to be pretty wise to me. Surely a wise turtle will avoid the barrier and walk through the opening which, as I said, is right next to the high point of the strip.
And, perhaps a “wise” turtle would have done just that. But this one plowed straight ahead, and crashed right into the highest and most difficult portion of the obstacle that towered in her path. Undeterred, she started trying to climb. And, she actually made some headway. She managed to get her “wise” little head above the strip. She managed to get one of her paws over the top of the strip. And she huffed and puffed and scrambled and fought and struggled. And then she rested. And then she started struggling again. I’m pretty sure I heard her saying, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…”
I’d like to tell you that, on the third try, she exerted herself to her utmost until suddenly, like an Olympic athlete, she sailed across the barrier, landed safely on the other side, caught her breath for a moment, and then continued on her way, her head held high with pride. What a story! What an example of perseverance for us all that would be!
But that’s not what happened. Instead, after all that struggling, this turtle fell off the plastic strip. She was now back exactly where she had been before she started the battle. Except for one small thing.
The one thing that had changed was probably not her level of wisdom. The thing that had changed was the direction in which she was pointing. Now, instead of being pointed directly at the huge obstacle that had just defeated her, she was pointing right at the opening in the plastic strip. And now, she wisely walked right through that opening. And on she went as though nothing had happened. She did encounter a couple more places where the strip presented similar, though smaller, obstacles, which she clambered over with little difficulty, until she walked out of my sight.
Did any of you have a Father who, like mine, would often say: “Son, you can do this the easy way, or you can do this the hard way. But you’re going to do it, so why not do it the easy way?” Didn’t you hate it when he said it back then? Aren’t you glad now that he did?
Life is hard. But sometimes, we make it harder than it has to be. Sometimes the desire to do things “our way”, and our unwillingness to take advice which contradicts what we think is right for us, or which comes from a source that we would rather not acknowledge as being “wiser” than we are, will lead us to decisions that take us to places where life is harder than it has to be. Sometimes we find ourselves in these hard places just because we won’t open our eyes and see that the way out is right there in plain sight.
And, there we will stay, banging our heads against the hard places, unless and until something changes.
When we finally realize that the “hard way” isn’t working out, wouldn’t it be great if someone would help us get pointed in the right direction? It’s clear we cannot do this on our own. Is there anyone who knows the right direction better than the One who made us – Genesis 2:7, the One who is for us – Romans 8:31, the One who is with us – Matthew 1:23, the One who came to Earth so we can have and enjoy an overflowing life – John 10:10, the One who can do far more than we could ask or imagine – Ephesians 3:20, the One who is the only door to all of this and much more – John 10:9? Of course not.
Aren’t you tired of making life harder than it needs to be? Aren’t you tired of trying to climb over the wall when the door is wide open? Aren’t you ready to let Jesus point you in the right direction?
Ambrose Ramsey | Shepherd
