I Praise God for One Way Streets

On my recent vacation, or road trip adventure with my sister, there were many experiences, sights and sounds that not only took my breath away, but helped me to see this world in a little different light and perspective.

I usually try to 'find the lesson' during unplanned experiences. This adventure was no different, in that respect.

First of all, you must know, LaDonna is a fabulous navigator...she got us where we needed to be, with the help of 'Gert', our trusty GPS, and her atlas! (As much of a techno-geek as she is, LaDonna didn't 'just trust' Gert's micro-brain, so we had to stop and purchase an atlas--of course, at this stop we also purchased a dictionary, for her to use while she quizzed my on GRE vocabulary words...that's how much of nerd I AM!)

But, that isn't what THIS is about!

I don't really have LaDonna's permission to share the entire story here, but let me just say that I think she'll understand, after she reads this entry and why I felt compelled to 'share'!

I recently met a woman that was on the wrong path. By wrong path, I simply mean that she may have never been taught anything about the living God of Heaven and Earth, or if she has been taught truth from holy scripture, she's chosen not to believe it, or live it. I know this because she is pursuing and listening to whom the Bible would call false prophets. People who would take a portion of the truth of scripture and corrupt with their own ideas and purposes. This encounter broke my heart on many different levels. Intelligent people and not so intelligent people are pursuing truth, and trying to make sense of life. The Father of Lies is right there, enticing and telling them things that 'tickle their ears'. Beware.

That's the way of life, isn't it? choices...

My 'new friend' has a choice to believe what she's being taught as truth, or to drop it, and pursue God. Unfortunately, the enemy is sly, and he preys on those that are seeking but are not seeking in holy realms. The 'filter' my friend is using is not scripture, which makes distinguishing between truth and untruth impossible.

Life choices...Sometimes we choose to follow and live by God's precepts, we fall down, we get back up, repentance & healing happen, we're restored.

And, others choose to reject holy scripture completely...all the choices we make culminate with whether or not we are 'lost' in the end.

One evening, while on a walking explore, LaDonna and I found ourselves 'far from our destination'. We thought we were prepared enough: comfy shoes, we'd lighten our bags and had our bottles of water in hand.

We'd taken a map of the area...we'd listened to wise counsel (a local person gave us instructions)...yet our first turn should have been RIGHT, and it was LEFT.
Here's the thing:

• this happened EVEN with a map in our hands, it wasn't a great map, but it was a map.
• this happened after we'd received verbal instructions from someone we could trust, a 'local' who knew the area well. After careful consideration, and recollection of the conversation, she could have actually been telling us exactly what we needed to 'do and when to turn and which way to turn' but her verbal instructions were not 'in order'...they were random ...'you could turn here, you could go here, OR you could turn this way, and go there...OR you could make this turn, turn again and find yourself over HERE'...confusing, at best.

And so, my lesson from this experience: Even with the word of God in my hand, as my road map, looking at it on my own, with the enemy lurking, I can 'figure it out on my own', and make a mistake...unless I seek Holy Spirit counsel (we serve a Mighty, Wise, Good God that is ready and available to help us see truth IN His word, no matter how 'lost' we might be on our own!)

Also, we can be confusing in the way we talk to people about God's word. We sometimes can give them too much information (like our local guide) and do more harm than good, for the kingdom!--If LaDonna & I had stayed on our 'path', we'd have eventually wound up in some random person's living room begging for dinner...for the gorgeous things we had set out to see and experience were completely in the opposite direction of the one we were headed.

That's the way it is with the life God has chosen & planned for each of us...sometimes the beauty He has in store for us requires us to completely TURN AROUND from the things we are pursuing, and SEEK HIM instead!

He is faithful...He LOVES you...If you are seeking Him, He may let you wander for a little bit, but if you're truly seeking HIM, He knows it and He will draw you back to Himself, a place of beauty and peace and rest!

There was a man of 'truth' on the path my sister & I were on! I knew immediately we could trust him as someone that would possess the truth we needed, and he would give us sound advice, because: he drove a white van with red & blue stripes on it, carried a cloth bag, talked constantly on his cell phone, and was very busy doing his job...but he took the time to talk with us, direct us and encourage us!

And so, with great arm gestures, this man of truth (we now refer to as our version of Brad Pitt) said to us, "Turn around, go back the way you came, See?--It's ONE WAY, the cars are going DOWN town... go that WAY!!!!!"

You gotta love that, I know I'll think of it and laugh for years to come!

Because here's the hilarious thing: Our choice at the beginning of our walk was SO wrong, it should have been obvious to us: we were walking the 'wrong' way down a ONE WAY street!!!--This bit of information should have been a clue when we turned left instead of right...but we were too busy pursuing our confusing instructions!

On vacations, we take incorrect turns, follow incorrect instructions, and listen to Gert (or what ever you've affectionately named your own GPS), but the fun part can be finding the lesson. You can usually recover from wrong turns in traffic, part of our adventure was the fun in watching Gert's head spin around...and the 'pink line' where the car should be, turn in to a round coil! Hilarious. Just Hilarious.

That's a great thing about our God, as well. He's there, waiting for us to hear the call of His voice on our lives. He's there, with truth! Remember this, though, there's only One Way to God...and that is through Jesus Christ!

I don't know about you, but LaDonna & I are so thankful for One Way streets! God, in His infinite wisdom knew our greatest need was a Saviour!...and, that's what He gave us out of His love for us.

Take a listen:

"It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is 'the stone the builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:10b-12NIV