The Trap of the Wide Road
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
Matthew 7:13 (NIV)
Jesus draws an unmistakable picture in Matthew 7: There are only two paths in this world.
One of the paths is crowded, attractive, and dangerously easy to join. He calls it the wide road. You can tell when you are tempted to do life on the wide road because it provides easy accessibility. It appears to offer a lot of comfort. There is little to no requirement for personal sacrifice. It feels good. It looks good. It is traveled by many people. And that’s the trap.
The wide road is not evil because it is fun; it is evil because it is deceptive. Don’t let the ease of the wide road lure you into a commitment to it. Ease feels like blessing. Popularity feels like affirmation. Comfort feels like confirmation. But Jesus is clear: Don’t forget where that path leads because it leads to destruction. That word in the original Greek points to loss; a stronger word is ruin.
The narrow road—following Jesus—often feels so isolating. It is not crowded. It is not popular. It does not offer applause or ease. Following Jesus comes with some difficulties, restrictions, and constrictions. But the narrow road leads somewhere the wide road never can: life. Eternal life, abundant life, true life, transformed life, kingdom life.
If it wasn’t for where it leads, I would be the first to stand and declare, “Give me that wide road, especially if it’s defined by an easy life.” The honesty of that admission shows how strong the temptation really is.
But here’s the truth: You can’t become all that Jesus intends for you to be by walking on that wide road. Ease cannot mature you. Comfort cannot strengthen you. Popularity cannot sanctify you.
So stop evaluating roads by how they feel, and start evaluating them by where they finish. The wide road ends in ruin. The narrow road ends in life. Child of God, resist the trap of the easy path. Don’t be seduced by the comfort of the crowd. Jesus is calling you to the way that shapes you, strengthens you, and leads you to life.
Consecrating Your Contradictions
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1 (NIV)
When you look closely at Paul’s story in Acts 23, there is a striking tension. On one hand, religious and political powers are conspiring to destroy him. On the other hand, those same powers are being used to protect him. The same Roman system that will one day execute Paul is, for this moment, his shield.
That tension raises a deeper spiritual principle. Part of growing in faith often comes by discerning the Lord’s will within the contradictions, not from outside them. This means at some point you have to develop the spiritual discipline to consecrate your contradictions.
It’s a contradiction that God uses the Roman military, the very empire that would later execute Him, as an instrument for his protection. Here’s a point to think on: Even hostile people can be assigned to bless you. God’s protection often comes from unexpected sources.
Not all of God’s blessings are going to come to you through your friends. Some of them will actually be delivered to your doorstep through people who push you, challenge you, or even oppose you. God can take a system that was not built with you in mind and still use it as a vehicle to get you where He wants you to go.
That is why you cannot live your whole life trying to distance yourself from every contradiction. At some point, you must bring those contradictions to God. You place them on the altar and say, “Lord, I do not understand this, but I am going to trust that You are at work inside it.” That is what it means to consecrate your contradictions.
When you do that, you start to see what Paul’s story is teaching. There is no place, no plot, no plan, no pain, no power that is stronger than the protective hand of our sovereign God. Therefore, don’t limit where you expect God’s help to come from because He can use anybody. He can use any system. He can use any circumstance—even those people around you who seem like enemies to you and your faith.
So today, instead of asking God to remove every contradiction, ask Him to consecrate them.
God’s Protection Through People
But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.
Acts 23:16 (NIV)
To get Paul from Jerusalem to Rome, God uses a plot orchestrated by 40 men who were so committed to killing Paul that they refused to eat or drink, having sworn an oath that they would not do either until they had successfully accomplished the deed. Their trap is simple. They wanted Paul brought out of the barracks so they could ambush him on the way to court and kill him.
This text conveys a clear message for us as we navigate life amidst the reality of traps that are always being laid for us: God’s providence always includes God’s protection. Who He saves, He protects.
What is striking is how that protection shows up. It does not appear as an angel with a flaming sword. It comes through a young man whose name we are never told. This young man is Paul’s nephew, and his existence is not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture, but he becomes an instant hero with one wise decision. After overhearing the plot to kill Paul, he moved quickly, and his actions saved Paul’s life.
From that, we learn an important principle: The power of God in our lives to bless us often comes through human agency. God intervenes in many ways, and one of those ways is through other people. There are people in your life who may not have been your choice, but they are God’s assignment. God uses these people to advance our lives and to keep us in the center of His will.
God works through everyday people, and I encourage you to treat them with the gratitude that they deserve. Maybe it was a praying grandparent, a parent who didn’t give up, a teacher who believed in you when you did not believe in yourself, a friend who called at the right time. I’m so glad somebody had me on their mind enough to take the time to pray for me.
Do not dismiss the “ordinary” people around you. No relationship in your life is accidental. God’s protection can often come wearing a familiar face. Don’t overlook the fact that the people who may seem common in your life might be on divine assignment.
Thank God today for the unseen protection that has come through human hands, human counsel, and human care. You did not make it here by yourself. God has been protecting you through people all along.
He Will Supply
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” “Yes, he does,” he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?” “From others,” Peter answered. “Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
Matthew 17:24-27 (NIV)
When the tax collectors questioned Peter about paying taxes, Jesus chose to reveal His provision in an unforgettable way.
“Peter, go down to the water’s edge and grab the first fish you can. And in that fish’s mouth is going to be a coin he swallowed but couldn’t digest.” It must’ve been a coin lost by someone who never would’ve been able to retrieve it.
Miraculously, Peter goes to the water’s edge, tosses in his line, grabs that fish, and sure enough, in its mouth is a coin worth enough to satisfy both what he and Jesus would owe to pay the temple tax.
There it is, the provision of God, exactly when and where it was needed. Not too soon, not too late. Not in the way Peter expected, but in the way God ordained. I love this miracle. I love even more its meaning: Jesus will supply what you need when you need it, and he’ll do it in ways that you and I could never imagine.
Philippians 4:19 reminds us that “God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
So when you face the pressure of need—whether financial, emotional, relational, or spiritual—remember this moment. Remember the coin in the mouth of the fish. Remember that Jesus not only reigns as King, but He also stoops to care for His people as Provider.
The Power to Deliver
Joseph went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
Luke 2:5-7 (NIV)
God wants you to deliver, even if in inconvenience. Don’t you ever accept the lie that suggests otherwise.
- You can be great for God in spite of mounting pressure and weighted responsibilities.
- You can produce for the Kingdom.
- Even if you start with a deficit, you can juggle a busy schedule.
- You can raise kids alone if you have to.
- You can walk with a limp and still live with power.
- You can grow in barren places.
- You can be loving in hostile environments.
- You can demonstrate the strength of faith.
Even if ou are standing in demonic strongholds and everybody is telling you that your journey is too long or that your journey is too hard or that your journey is too threatening, you ought to be able to say, “You know what? You might be right if all you are assessing are the facts, but I don’t live just by facts. I live by faith. And faith suggests that I’ve got to make the trip. And if I have to make the trip, if I have to show up, if I have to be great, if I have to exercise gifts, then I’ve got to be ready to deliver.”
If God could give Mary the power to deliver against the backdrop of all of this threat and inconvenience, God can give us the power to do the same. You can turn any setting into a place for Christ to emerge. He can be born, revealed, and shared in any setting, any situation, any circumstance.
A pregnant woman, ready to deliver, walked 90 miles against a politically corrupt census when she was ready to push her baby out. She arrived there and delivered, deciding to be great for God. Why? Because she was full of Christ. She could deliver because she was full.
What is it she had to deliver? She had to deliver Jesus Christ. And in many ways, when Christ dwells in us, when we have Christ inside of us, and we are full of the hope of glory, we can be ready to deliver for God as well.
