God's navigation system

A couple of days ago my husband and I went on a little drive to pick up something I had ‘won’ on Ebay. Because it was an area in Melbourne we were unfamiliar with, we used our GPS. On the way there, the GPS took us through many twists and turns. By the time we got there, my husband said “Now I know where this place is, I realise the GPS took us the long way – there was a much easier way to get here – next time I’m using my brain!”. On the way home, he used his instinct and got us back safely home, in much less time that it took to get there! However, if it wasn’t for the GPS we would not have gone in the general direction of where we were mean’t to go – it helped, but in the end, we also needed to combine that with common sense of what we knew of the journey.

Experiencing all God has for us is a little like this. How many times have we used our spiritual GPS – whether it be the Bible, or other people’s experiences, a sermon we have heard, a song we have listened to – and from that make an assumption on a particular aspect of God’s character, or our experience of God. All those things I have mentioned are good – THEY HELP GET US TO THE DESTINATION.

However, the only way you will truly KNOW Him for yourself, is to take the trip yourself. You have to get in your car and drive there – using those things as guides to get you where God wants you to be. And oftentimes it is in the EXPERIENCE that you realise that many things you thought about God are challenged, as you see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears.

And finally, nothing beats your own personal SENSE of where you are going. Sometimes it’s not as hard/far/complicated as you think.

So the moral of this story is, use the GPS that has been given to you and go on the trip yourself….and…..USE YOUR BRAIN!