I am directionally challenged. I don’t think this is a certifiable mental disorder (yet), but it should be. It really slows me down. Sometimes when I am going to a familiar place from an unfamiliar location, I actually have to pull off the road and just sit and think until my head hurts. And even then, the odds aren’t good.
Last Friday, I was scheduled to speak in a church I’d never been to in city where I don’t live. I started stressing early in the day. Knowing my propensity for getting lost (I like to call it ‘circling for a landing’), my sweet husband prayed for me and generously offered to trade cars so that I could use his GPS.
Of course, there’s the small issue of not knowing how to use his GPS but I didn’t want to worry him, so I just said ‘yes.’ Deep sigh.
The Plan
My plan was to print out a Google map, trace the route on MapQuest, learn how to program the GPS AND leave an hour early just in case I needed the extra time.
Thankfully, the Lord intervened and a friend graciously volunteered to go with me. This was great news because Susan was born with a map and a GPS hardwired into her brain.
The Solution
Ahhh… my stress melted completely away. No more studying maps, printing out directions or programming mysterious devices – Susan was my map. All I had to do was to obey her commands: turn here, turn there and by golly, before you know it we were there. Susan was my ‘way;’ all I had to do was follow her.
In I John 2, John writes that those who love God keep His commands, and he says we will know what that way of living looks like because it is seen in Jesus. In other words, those who love God will follow Jesus, look like Jesus, live and love like Jesus.
In John 14:6, Jesus put it this way,
“I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus is the way to God. There is no other way.
In the Old Testament, God told Abraham to leave his familiar country and go to a place that God would show him. He didn’t hand Abraham a map or even tell him where he was going to go. God simply led the way.
When Jesus called his disciples in the New Testament, He didn’t lay out a plan of action, or map out the road. He simply said, “Follow Me.” And they did.
In a sense, we are all directionally challenged. We don’t know the way to God, how to live, how to love… and we couldn’t do it on our own even if we did. Jesus is the only way. We are to walk with Him one day at a time. His call is still simply, “Follow Me.”
I am so thankful that I have friends who love me enough to drive me to where I need to go. But as much as I appreciate their path-finding skills, that’s not the best part. The true joy comes from spending time together, talking, sharing dreams, encouraging one another and growing closer to God.
God’s Way
Jesus wants that kind of intimate relationship with you and me. We don’t know where He will lead us but we do know that He will be with us and in us wherever we go. And that’s the best part.
He is still asking today, “Will you follow Me?”
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Tags: *Kim Avery, Bible study, I John
Hey Kim - if it makes you feel better, you are NOT alone. You should see me in Yoga when the instructor is telling us to put our left hand out to the side and the right hand out in front and I start trying to remember WHY I chose the front of the class again . . .
I know that there is not a map or detailed list of how to get to where I am going and that I have to rely on that personal relationship with God that I should be fostering every day. But just because I know not to get in the front of the room doesn’t mean I don’t do it EVERY SINGLE WEEK.