When I last talked to my old neighbour Ed, I wasn’t expecting to set him off on one of his pet peeves. I share his complaint; “The GPS system in my new truck almost wrecked my marriage and nearly got me killed.” His wife Ruby has another opinion when it comes to Ed and his GPS system. She claims that for the GPS to be effective, Ed must learn to watch it or listen to it and to follow its directions. My old neighbour claimed he couldn’t look at the fool monitor and drive at the same time. He hates to have a machine telling him what to do. They used it in Edmonton to search for a church for a family wedding. Ruby had to watch and repeat the instructions for Ed to follow. By the time they reached the church, Ruby had asked the bride if she understood a husband will even argue with a voice on a screen.
I told Ed we had used both MapQuest and our son-in-law’s GPS. There is a family push to get us using a GPS so that we do not get lost in beautiful Vancouver, B.C. The family doesn’t trust that MapQuest will continue to get us in and out of the huge city when we have a specialist appointment. We have had trouble trusting the GPS, but our trust in it is building. Navigating around large cities can be a challenge when you are there as a stranger. The folks who live in big cities are comfortable with the city’s vastness, and all it has to offer, but for those just visiting it can become unnerving. Following directions is necessary when you don’t know the way, but directions must be exactly followed if they are to get you to your destination.
We will follow directions more fully if we trust their source. My daughter travelled from coast to coast in Canada fully trusting her GPS to get her to countless destinations. For success, there must be trust built through time. Many demand the Bible be user-friendly giving easy, clear, directions so they can follow God with comfort and ease. The Bible is a large and vast book you cannot microwave for quickly fixed answers that apply to any and all questions and directions. The success of following directions of a GPS, and the Bible is a willing, receptive attitude.
The Bible speaks of seeds that fell on a hard path. Birds picked them off the path because the soil was so hard the seeds just sat there on the surface. Other seeds fell on thin rocky soil so although the seeds sprung up they withered because there was not enough soil to support them long. Other seeds fell among thorns and grew alongside the thorns, but in time the plants were smothered by the thorns. Lastly, seeds fell on good ground and there they grew and produced large crops.
The GPS and the Bible are not there to boss us around, but to direct us to find our way. Neither can direct us if we have minds set against them, or don’t want to hear and follow them.
