SHORTCUTS

“Impatience is a hindrance. As with all things, if you attempt to take shortcuts, the final destination will rarely be as good and may even be attainable.” Chris Bradford

On this beautiful Sunday morning, while sipping on a cup of coffee, still in pajamas, I watched Friendly Friendship Baptist Church’s on-line service. The pastor, Dr. Lamonte King, talked about “GOD’S SHORTCUTS.”  The text came from the 13th chapter of Exodus 17-22. But for this blog’s purpose, we will only focus on scripture 17a which reads: Then it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near.  Pastor King talked about how although GOD has the ability to take SHORTCUTS to make things happen in our lives quickly but for various reasons, HE doesn’t. HE chooses to take us the long way around. The sermon got me to thinking about SHORTCUTS and how they can sometimes appear easier and quicker. But, are they? Are SHORTCUTS easier? Are they quicker? Is a SHORTCUT the best route to take? 

Have you ever taken a SHORTCUT?  If you have, you know they can be both advantageous and disadvantageous. Because they offer a shorter distance to the desired goal, they can be advantageous. For instance, an educational SHORTCUT that offers two college degrees simultaneously is a benefit because you can earn 2 degrees while saving years of schooling. But SHORTCUTS can also be disadvantageous because it can also extend the time and distance it takes to reach a goal. For example, in relationSHIPS, the most common SHORTCUT is getting serious with someone before actually knowing them.

Since the goal of most relationSHIPS is to find love, getting serious with someone that you don’t know, takes up a bunch of unnecessary time and pushes the desired goal of finding love further away. But, being patient and taking the time to get to know someone before jumping into a relationSHIPS offers the opportunity – to weed out individuals- which saves us time and if there’s chemistry, allows it to thrive and grow-which makes the distance to the goal of finding love much closer. Taking the longer route instead of a SHORTCUT will produce different outcomes.

Lennox Lewis once said, “I’ve found that taking SHORTCUTS will get you to the place you don’t want to be much quicker than they get you to the place you want to be” and I agree. The nation’s SHORTCUT to boost the economy quicker by allowing states and non-essential businesses to re-open before this virus is fully contained has taken us to a place where we don’t want to be. Those states deciding to boost their economy by reopening have already experienced an increase in the number of new Covaid-19 cases, proving that taking SHORTCUTS to circumvent the Coronavirus is not safe and has proven to be impossible. If the desired goal is to get rid of the Coronavirus, we are going to have to be patient and take the longer route out because the SHORTCUT is ineffective and merely prolongs the time it takes for us ALL to reach our final destination-normalcy.

So be wise and take this virus seriously. Understand that to get us from where we are now– in the midst of this pandemic crisis to- where we want to be-outside enjoying and spending time with those we love, we’ll have to be patient and take the LONG route out of this crises because there are NO safe SHORTCUTS. Even if your state re-opens, DON’T you open. Don’t open your home too soon to others because you don’t know what kinds of precautions, if any, they’ve been practicing. When it comes to this pandemic, protect yourself and your family, by continuing to shelter in place. Continue to use safety precautions, and don’t take any SHORTCUTS with your life and health.

SHIP TALK: Have you ever taken a SHORTCUT? How did it work out? Favorably or unfavorably?

If you’d like to leave a comment, please scroll to the bottom of the page.