I have been grieving since I heard a couple of days ago that a man who has had a great influence on my life had died. He has been an inspiration and guide to me for over eight years through his books. His name is Dallas Willard.
One of his key teachings concerned the “Easy Yoke.” He took this teaching from Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus says, “My yoke is easy and My load is light.” His yoke for us is to take the road of his choosing depending on his guidance and help. Sadly, it is often a road less travelled.
Let me briefly illustrate.
Up until a month ago, I planned to self-publish a book without professional editing. I had received up until then a lot of good help, but it was not at the professional-level.
But I have changed my mind in the last month. I have chosen to take the road less travelled.
In the last month, God has made clear to me that this was his book, not mine. He also wants this book to be professionally edited so that it could do a good job in telling his message.
In addition, he wanted me to give up my ego and seek his glory on this journey. He also wanted me to learn from him about how to write better.
I feel like I am living “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).“
So, why do we often not choose to take the road less travelled? Why do we choose to be weary and heavy-laden (Matthew 11:28)? Why do we often take the hard road?
One big reason is that we would rather do life our way. We do not want to take the road that God has mapped out for us. We would rather take our own road without his help.
Another reason is that we do not rely on “ You are precious, you are honored and I love you” (Isaiah 43:4). As a result, we frantically seek achievement, reputation, and material things to meet these needs. But as the verse above says, we already have these things as gifts from God!
A third reason is that we often take responsibility for the results. We try to make it happen. We can’t trust that God will make it happen. We fail to “Come to Jesus and find rest for our souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).
So, how to we take this road less travelled?
One suggestion is that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a prayer. We can come to Jesus and ask him to help us take on his yoke. We next trust what God promises, which is “I am with you, I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you (Isaiah 41:10).
We then walk with Jesus on the road less travelled.
Rich Kehoe
Journey into Light 
These points are well given, but I think what’s left out might be that we choose the heavy yolk/hard road because we don’t know what a light yolk feels like. We choose the devil that we know. Faith is scary. I think Dr. King said something like “Faith is walking down a flight of stairs when you can’t even see the next step.” Hopefully I haven’t completely misquoted him or anyone else, but for me there is a stark sort of comfort in facing something known, no matter how many times its beaten me.
Alan,
Certainly, it is our nature to rely on the tried and proven, even if our life is not going real well. But faith tells us to risk relying on Someone who is God Almighty and loves us with no strings attached. He promises us abundant living that satisfies us and gives us sustaining strength to make it through life. Our journey in trust begins and continues with one faith step at a time. What will you trust God with today?
Rich