This last Wednesday I finally gave into the urge to "cut my hair." I've been thinking about doing it for awhile now as it's so much easier to take care of when it's short, and it's cooler as well. Yet, growing your hair out long is a lot of work, and takes time...and while you can always go shorter, you can't just glue your hair back on after you've cut it off. However, I decided I'd had enough hastle working out tangles, and trying to keep it manageable, so I finally gave in and went looking for the scissors, despite my dad's frowns! ;-) (Sorry Daddy.....remember it grows fast though, so it will get long again!)

Anyway, since then I started thinking about how "short cuts" apply to our spiritual life! I know, I know, this is crazy...how do you learn something about God from a hair cut? But, give me a second to explain. I believe that in every aspect of our lives, God is seeking to teach us spiritual lessons and draw us closer to himself, and this is profound! So hang with me a few moments...

Most of us are going through life with goals...goals that when fulfilled will bring us greater happiness. Maybe it's a better paying career, or a more elevated position of honor. Maybe it's a higher degree or the achievement of climbing some mountain of excellence. Maybe it's marrying that godly man of our dreams, or the beautiful industrious woman of Proverbs 31. Maybe it's having a stable home and family, building a ministry that will touch thousands of people, or leading yet another soul to know God. Maybe it's going to work full time in the mission field, or adopting a needy child. Maybe it's having our kids grow up so they can take care of themselves, and at the same time realize with gratefulness all the sacrifices we've made for them!

Goals are a good thing...and it is a Biblical principal to have goals that keep us pressing forward and upward. "Where there is no vision, the people perish." Prov 29:18 Yet, how many of us today, desire to have success....in our career, in our relationships, and in our ministries without all the hard work it takes to get there. If we could, and most of society does, we'd actually prefer to take the "short cuts."

• We want that elevated position of work or ministry, yet we try to bypass the little details of diligence along the way. Yet God says, until you have proven yourself faithful in the "little things" of life...don't expect me to trust you with the big things!! "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much." Luke 16:10

• We want to be someone special in the eyes of others and often work to get people to look at us and think highly of us, yet God says, "Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." James 4:10 Don't worry about what others see in you, instead worry about what I see in you. What do I see in your heart and life when no one is looking? What do I see in your heart and life when no one is around to give you credit or pat you on the back?

• We want that godly companion who will fulfill all our desires and sit at our feet in service waiting to fill our needs. Yet we often aren't willing to be that person ourselves, the person that genuinely and sincerely seeks the good of others "above our own desires and longings." But God says, Delight yourself in ME, find your fulfillment in ME...Fill your life with service for ME...only then can you find fulfillment and true happiness...and only then might I possibly consider giving you the gift of a partner. "For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 As many say... "Marriage is a life of sacrificial servanthood...and most joyously...if you have first learned to be Christ's servant."

• We want a stable home and to have obedient godly children that will some day rise up and call us blessed. Yet, how often are we tempted to take the short-cuts in education....turn the TV on as a babysitter, or worse yet...send our kids off to Daycares while we continue to pursue our own dreams thinking, "They'll still turn out! I'm a good parent." But that doesn't work! God gave children parents to educate them...He didn't intend for them to be trained by the careless world. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Prov 22:6 When the disciples tried to keep the children away from Jesus, He gives us an example loud and clearly of the value of children... "But when Jesus saw it [that the children were turned away as unimportant], he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Mark 10:14

• We want to be used of God, maybe to go as a missionary to some remote location, or maybe to adopt a needy child. Yet we struggle to even give God a few minutes of our daily time to listen to His voice. We get impatient when we have to wait in traffic or on the phone, or for a friend. (We have no idea how much "waiting" occurs in the missionfield or in raising a needy child!) We get frustrated when someone is inconsiderate or steps in front of us in line, when the food we ordered isn't what's delivered, when we get hot and sweaty cleaning up someone elses mess, or when someone doesn't seem to get it on the first Bible study. Yet God says, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." Heb 5:8 God wants to teach us patience...He wants us to have peace...here and now...and in every detail of our lives. And until we have learned this monumental lesson in the little things, without taking short-cuts, how can He trust us with a greater work? "Great peace have they which love thy law and NOTHING shall offend them." Psalms 119:165

Yes, short-cuts are so much easier...and it seems like they get us to our goals faster. Yet I've been learning more and more over the years...God isn't in the business of "short-cuts." Oh yeah, a short-hair-cut may be ok now and then ;-), but short-cuts in life....Nope, they don't contribute to a quality product or accomplishment. Even as I'm working out at the gym, or climbing the hills behind where we live, I'm reminded...strength, endurance, and strong muscles don't come with short-cuts...they come with daily consistent hard work and sweat...and the more work, and the more miles I take, the stronger I become.

But as God has also been teaching me...life is not all about destinations...but actually, it's more about enjoying and growing in the journey. We're all wound up and worried about the finished product...the destination...the completed goal, but God is more concerned about the process and who we are becoming along the daily journey. Are we happy now, are we content now, and are we doing our best now? Or are we just looking for the nearest shot-cut?

My prayer today is that God will enable each of us to be diligent at whatever task or opportunity lies before us. "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil 3:14 And most importantly, to remember that...

"Happiness is not a destination, but a journey!!"