The Only Way

Sitting down at the lunch table next to her friend, Sara, Erica opened up her lunch box to see what her mom had packed for her to eat. “Awe rats. Another peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” remarked Erica.

“There he is!” Sara squealed.

“Who?”

“Brandon. He’s just sitting down over there.”

“Sara?”

“Yes?” Sara looked toward Erica.

“He’s already got a girl friend.”

“I know, but a girl can dream, can’t she?” Erica rolled her eyes, and started eating her sandwich. “Speaking of which, you’ll never believe what I was reading yesterday!”

“What was that?”

“That there is a Pirate’s Chest full of jewels in a cave in the woods,” stated Sara, placing her plastic bags into the paper bag to throw it away.

“Come on, Sara. There’s no such thing as buried treasure.”

“Who’s talking buried treasure, I’m talking about hidden treasure.” Erica gave Sara a look of disbelief and finished her drink. “Anyway, I was thinking about going Saturday afternoon to see if I can find it. Want to come?”

“I don’t think–”

“But it will be fun, trust me.”

“Okay… I guess.” Erica and Sara finished their lunches and went to class. What a curious idea, thought Erica. That there could actually be hidden treasure in a cave somewhere. If there was, why didn’t the person who wrote this article find it? Millions of questions filled Erica’s mind as she tried to reason to herself why she was going to follow her friend off into the woods.

That night, she went to bed, and when she woke up she thought it all to be a dream. That was until she got to school and went to her locker. Opening it up, she looked, and Sara was just coming in the door. She walked over in a safari hat. Giggling a little, she placed it in her locker. “What’s that for?” Erica asked.

“It’s for Saturday. I hear that it’s supposed to be pretty sunny, and I wouldn’t want to get my face burnt.”

“Now there would be the end of the world.” Closing her locker, Erica continued, “Sara, are you sure that you actually want to go through with this? I mean, what if somebody else has read about the treasure and has–”

“Already found it? Well, at least we’ll have a fun hike.”

“But what if we get lost?”

“I’ve got a map and a compass,” she dug in her bag. “See.” She showed the map and compass to her worried friend. “Not a problem!” The bell to go to class rang, and the two girls headed off their separate ways.

That Saturday they both met at Sara’s house to begin their adventure. “Are you sure about this? I mean, what if–”

“You’re such a scardy cat,” interrupted Sara. “Everything will be fine. Here,” said Sara, handing Erica a canteen, “We may need this.” They finished packing and headed on their way. Jumping on their bicycles, they rode off to the nearby forest. They dismounted and put their bikes in the dried up ditch.

“Do you think that they are safe here? I mean, what if someone steals them, or it rains–”

“Will you stop that?! If I’d known you were going to be this much trouble…”

“Okay, okay. Let’s go.” They began walking into the forest, heading north by north-west. Sara had started to mark trees along their way. After walking about an hour, Erica recognized one of the trees. “Look at this! We’ve already been here! We’ve been walking around in circles!”

“Look.” Sara said, showing Erica the map, “That’s the way we’re supposed to go. Now, just trust me a little.”

“Trust you!?! I don’t even know what I’m doing here!”

“Not this again. Look, if you want to wait here–”

“No, no. I’m sorry. It’s just– well, I’m kinda tired.”

“I see. Let’s take a break. You sit here, and I will go see if I can’t find out where the cave is.”

“Don’t leave me here!”

“All right. We’ll both take a rest.” They sat down on a rock. Digging out the canteen and a snack, they began to eat a little. The time came for the journey to continue. They got up and continued on their way. Erica constantly complained, yet was hesitant to turn around and go back. After a long hike, they finally reached the cave…

“See, I told you that it was here,” chimed Sara. “Now all we have to do is go inside and get the jewels.”

“If it’s that easy, why hasn’t someone else already got them?”

“Maybe because they had a partner like you.”

“Oh. I see how you are.”

“Let’s go.” Sara said, signaling for Erica to follow. She dug in her bag to pull out a flashlight, then started inside. “Cool.”

“Yeah. I wish I had brought my sweater.”

“Check out this over here.” Sara pointed her flashlight at a bunch of bats.

“BATS!!! I hate BATS!!!” Erica screamed. This awoke a few of the bats, which flew and dodged around the two girls.

“Shhh.” Sara said. They continued to walk further into the cave.

“What does the map say?”

“I don’t know. Let me look.” Digging out the map, she dropped it. “Great, I dropped it.”

“Can you find it?”

“I don’t know… Wait! I’ve got it, but it doesn’t have much about the cave. It just says that it’s in here.”

“Let’s go back.”

“Not that again.”

“I mean, I think that it’s time for dinner.”

“I’m going to find that treasure. Are you with me?”

“All right, but let’s hurry up.” They trekked further into the cave, and stumbled upon a box. Opening it, the reflection of their flashlights almost blinded them. “WOW!”

“See, didn’t I tell you!”

“I never– wait until Dad– I don’t believe it.”

“Let’s see how much we can get in our bags.” They took off their bags, filled them, and carried some of the other pieces out with them. Returning to their bikes, they hopped on and rode home victoriously.

The headline in the paper the next day spread their fame, and they soon had a lot of guys talking and noticing them. Sara and Erica never lost their heads, though, and kept the jewels in a safe place.

Are we going to spend our lives doubting and questioning the direction of God’s will? Should we continue to point out to God that we’ve already been here without consulting His plan, or map, in His Word? He has marvelous things in store for those who believe and will totally surrender to His leading. Will we choose to do what is easy and seems right in the here and now, or trust Him who knows all to direct us?