Directions Are Important
Several years ago, Jim and I were meeting some friends at a Bed and Breakfast to stay for a few days and enjoy some good laughs and some serious conversation. Our friends were coming from other states, but this particular B&B is located not too far from our home. We, however, had never been to it and it was located on some country roads we had never traveled, so we put the address in our GPS and trusted it to take us to our location.
We followed the directions to a T. As we got closer, that lovely GPS lady began to say, “Your destination will be on the right.” “Turn right in 300 feet.” “You have reached your destination on the right.” So, we turned into the driveway on the right.
I looked at the house before us, and the thought went through my mind that it didn’t look anything like the picture on the brochure I had seen, but Jim was already pulling up to the house and turning the car off. I decided I needed to tell him that this didn’t look like the place, but he was already getting out of the car. Before he closed the door, I told him that I wasn’t going in because I didn’t think this was the right place. I mean, after all, there was no sign saying that this was a B&B.
He decided he would go on around to the front door – which he did. He knocked on the front door – and no one answered. He decided he would go on in because surely you just walked in to register – so he went into the house. When he finally came back out to the car, he said he had walked around the living room and kitchen looking for someone and then decided it must not be the place we were looking for. (I’m sure the people inside were hiding in their safe room while this strange man walked through their house!)
Needless to say, the GPS was wrong!! As we turned around and went back down the driveway, across the road was a large sign for the B&B for which we were looking! We had been looking to the right for the driveway and completely missed this sign.
We retell this story every time we meet with our friends for our little retreat. Our laughter is still just as loud as it was when we finally arrived at the B&B on the correct side of the road!
I was thinking about this story the other day, and for some reason I connected those thoughts with how we follow directions in life. As Christians, most of us know where we want our final destination to be. I want to be in Heaven, and I want to see so many other people there too.
Let me give you just a few of my thoughts:
- Directions can change. I used to have a set of very antique cookbooks. I enjoyed looking through them and seeing if I could figure out what all of the ingredients were and how to follow the directions. It was hard! Cooking today is much different because we have more modern techniques and appliances to help with our cooking. The directions of today are much easier to follow.
- Directions can be confusing. If you have ever bought a swing set for your children and tried to put it together, you know what I’m talking about. Without clearly written directions and some pictures, there is no way we could put that swing set together. If you have a big bag of nuts and bolts left over, (like we did) you either made a mistake or they gave you extra. Since the swing set held up until our children no longer used it, I would say that we received extra nuts and bolts.
- Directions can be wrong. Just like our GPS was wrong about our destination, any set of directions can also be wrong. Anything that is created or written by man can have mistakes in it. Have you ever given someone directions to someplace they were going and realized later that you gave them a wrong turn?
- Directions given to us from God are the best directions we can ever follow.
- They are never wrong.
- They aren’t confusing.
- They never change.
- They are clear.
- They are concise.
- They are for our own good.
- They are the directions that will help us in this life and lead us to Heaven.
When you are given a set of directions to any place or for any activity in which you might be involved here on earth, be sure that you realize that they might be wrong. You might end up at the wrong place or in the wrong house!
But when you follow God’s directions in the Bible, you can be sure that they will lead you in the right way.
“With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wonder from your commandments!” (Psalm 119:10)
“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways” (Psalm 119:15).
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AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
