They can’t…He can.
Dare 2 Share - I recently read about a US tourist whose trip through Bavaria ended with an unexpected visit to a supermarket. I guess many of us could accidentally walk into a grocery store in another country if we didn’t know where we were going.
Except this guy wasn’t walking, he actually drove into the supermarket when his car’s high tech navigation system led him straight through the store's doors.
The vehicle only came to a stop when he plowed into a giant display of peas.
The man told police that he had relied entirely on the automatic navigation system as he did not know the area, and he actually did not notice the doors of the supermarket looming before him until he had crashed through them.
Could it be that this fellow placed a little too much trust in what he thought was a trustworthy navigation system? I can just imagine the conversation he had with himself:
“Wow! What a beautiful country! It says here that I need to make a left at this next intersection. That’s funny, it looks a lot more like a supermarket than a street, but oh well- the computer can’t be wrong…AAAARRRGH!”
Have you ever taken much time to think about your navigation system? What I mean is the guide you use to direct your turns in life…whether to go left or right- whether to keep going or stop. We all use direction finders every day. Yet just like the split pea man mentioned above, we sometimes rely too much on potentially flawed instruments.
We blindly crash into bad situations because it “felt like the right thing to do”.
We smash up our lives on the bad advice of friends.
We rely on circumstances that ultimately send up spinning out of control.
Let’s face it, we really don’t know what were doing or where were going half the time anyway, so what makes us think that our friends, our feelings, or our fortunes can be trusted to guide us through this amazingly complex thing called life?
They can’t…He can.
The one and only foolproof navigation system known to people is none other than God Himself. He’s the One who invented life and invented you- remember?
Now it’s not like God has time to hold every person’s hand and throw signs and wonders our way every time we need to make a decision, which is why He gave us 66 books inside one big book called the Bible. Page after page, story after story, and verse after verse is jam-packed with the direction you need to steer clear of those pesky camouflaged supermarkets that mess up your journey.
If you don’t think the Bible is enough to guide you through life, you’re definitely on the wrong path.
The Bible not only gives us wisdom for decisions about relationships, jobs, education, future plans, and day to day activities- it even has hundreds of examples of people who did and did not follow that wisdom.
Let’s start with the basics. Do you want to know God’s will? Would you be interested in having Him map out His path for you? Then start with the basics:
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. (Romans 12:2)
Taking cues from the world on how to live life is like staring down at a faulty direction screen while your life heads towards a possible crash site. Pour yourself into regular study of Scripture and you’ll be able to see the dangers ahead.
Perhaps you feel like a tourist who’s a stranger in a strange land. Turns out you’re right…you are. You belong to Christ and you are a citizen of heaven. Here’s the way Paul puts it:
“You are not your own; you were bought at a price…” (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
This week, try heading down a new road. Read the Bible as often as possible and figure out ways to specifically apply it to your life- there may be a stack of peas somewhere that thanks you!
Questions:
1) How do you usually go about making decisions?
2) Do you trust your feelings more than anything else? Why or why not?
3) How can start to let the Bible be more of a navigation system?
