The one with the Sat-Nav

I finished my Tall Vanilla Latte (skinny, sugar free and extra hot) and made my way to the car. Today I would be catching up with a friend I hadn't seen in a couple of years. I was looking forward to it. It had been too long! All the details had been arranged via Twitter, and the postcode of her new address had been put into the Sat-Nav in advance. Music - check. Glasses - check. Engine running - check. Sat-Nav on - check. Ready! I was on my way!

However, as I left the carpark, and entered the roundabout, it became obvious that the journey would be a little more challenging than I had anticipated. I looked at the Sat-Nav to see where I should be exiting, only to see a blank screen! Panic! As I drove around the roundabout for a second time, the screen came back on - but with no directions. Not much help! What was a girl to do? No option but to drive round again and hope that the satellites were found and the directions given! This I did, but to no avail. Three times around a the roundabout, and the Sat-Nav had still not told me which exit to take. Getting dizzy!

I had to make a quick decision: drive around again and again in hope that it would work, or, try and make it on my own. Whilst the first option sounded tempting (and fun!) I was already on a pretty tight schedule if I was to arrive when expected. So ...

I did what I should have done right at the beginning of the journey - engage my brain! I knew this roundabout well, and surely should be able to work out which exit to take. The problem was, I wasn't entirely sure of the direction of the destination.  I began to eliminate the exits I knew wouldn't take me to my destination.  This helped. 

And then, well, I just went for it.  I exited the roundabout and headed for the motorway.  I figured I could always stop at the services and have a look at google maps if I still had no idea where to go.  Or, I could even swallow my pride and give my friend a call, admit I was lost without my Sat-Nav and ask her for directions.  It wouldn't be the end of the world.

Guess what?  Just as I entered the motorway, the Sat-Nav kicked in!  Yes, it had finally found the required satellites, and had the directions at the ready.  Phew!

I was pleased that I could now relax a little and let the Sat-Nav guide me, although I did give myself a little pack on the back for being prepared to try it on my own.  I had somewhere to get to, and I hadn't let unreliable technology stop me.

As I continued my journey, I reflected on this experience, and wondered how often we do something similar in our relationship with God.  Let's take worship as a destination for example.  We key in a heavenly destination on our internal Sat-Nav, and get ready to set off.  We head to the roundabout, and as we do, we focus our heart and mind on the things of God: how awesome he is and worthy of our worship. And then, as we enter the roundabout - nothing.  No emotional satellites are found.  We are not 'feeling' the warm and fuzzies we expect as we worship.  So, we go round again.  And again.  And again.  Nothing.  And yet, our destination hasn't changed.  God is still there and worthy of all our praise and worship.  So, what do we do?  Do we continue going round, in the hope that we will suddenly 'feel' right?  Or do we focus on the destination, trust in the Truth, exit and go for it?

We cannot rely purely on our feelings.  Just like technology, they can fail us.  They can be unreliable.  They can let us down.

We can, however, rely on the Truth.  Always.

Are you currently going round the roundabout, waiting for your internal Sat-Nav to work?  Are you focusing on the screen, instead of your destination?

Can I encourage you to take your eyes off of the screen and fix them firmly on where you need to go.  Trust in the Truth and pull off the roundabout.  You may find that unless you do, you will be going round that roundabout forever!

What if we take the wrong exit?  Well, is this really such a problem?  Isn't it better to set off, discover a wrong turning, and put it right, than to keep going round and round and never getting anywhere at all?

I once heard a great analogy that I have often considered in these situations -

It is much easier to change the direction of a car once it is moving, than to try to position it perfectly whilst it is stationary.  I would rather set off and allow God to alter the direction, than to try to lift the car into place myself!

How about you? 

Sometimes when we do put our trust in the Truth, rather than our feelings, we find that somewhere, further along the road they kick in - just like the Sat-Nav on my journey.

I had a great afternoon catching up with my friend.  Would I have ever got there if I had waited for the sat-nav to work on that roundabout?  I doubt it.  What a shame that would have been.

Don't put all your trust in your 'feeling' sat-nav, you never know what it is you will miss out on!  Instead -

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5,6)

Focus on the destination, and make it happen!

The one with the porridge

Wednesday mornings are always busy for me - which is why I make sure I have a good breakfast before I leave the house.  This morning was no different - well - at least at the beginning.  After my two cups of tea I got out of bed and made my way downstairs for breakfast.  One sachet of Oats-So-Simple left - great!  Just what was needed on this cold Wednesday morning.  I grabbed a bowl, ripped open the sachet, emptied contents into bowl, filled with milk and placed in the microwave.  I set it for the required two minutes and left it cooking.  Great :)  Well ... that was ... until I walked back into the kitchen after the microwave had 'pinged' to inform me the two minutes were up.  You see when I opened up the microwave I found that my porridge had exploded!  Grrrrr!!

Yes, I was annoyed!  I had left the microwave doing its job and it had messed up!  It had ruined my breakfast.  Or had it?  Was it more the case that I had wandered off, packed my bag for the day, folded some washing, turned the laptop on and loaded up Facebook?   Yes, I think it probably was.  Had I popped back and stirred the porridge as directed, and kept my eye on it, I would have probably managed to avoid the explosion!  I wanted that porridge and was really looking forward to it - so what happened?  Quite simply:  I got distracted.

How often do we see this happen in our lives?  We start something off, excited and full of good intentions.  Maybe we start a healthy eating regime, plan to get fit, write a journal, buy all our Christmas presents early, or develop a deeper relationship with God.  All goes well at first, we enjoy the challenge, and keep on target.  Things are good.  However, after a while we start to slip.  We have a few too many take-aways, watch a series on the telly, spend a bit more time with friends at the pub, or neglect our Bible reading for a few days - and suddenly we find we have been distracted and our porridge has exploded!  Our plan hasn't worked out.  We didn't keep it up.

I know this feeling well!  I have lost count of the amount of times I have attempted to lose weight and get fit - and failed!  More importantly, its scary how often I realise that I am not spending as much time reading the Bible or praying as I ought to be, and set out to put this right - again and again! 

How does this happen?

I guess, a better question to ask would be 'how can I stop this happening again?'

The writer of Hebrews has something useful for us here with his analogy of a race (Hebrews 12 vs 1-2).  Running a race takes a lot of training if we are to run it well and finish.  It isn't always easy.  It takes a lot of hard work and perseverance.   We might find it slightly easier if we have a training partner to work with and encourage us - but we still need to put the effort in and push through the pain barriers and exhaustion!

If all this sounds too difficult, there is further help in the passage - for it tells us to 'fix our eyes' ... to focus!   In order to reach the end and avoid all the distractions we need to have a focus.  We need to keep the end result in mind.  If I had kept my focus on the porridge I probably wouldn't have allowed it to explode.

Although the analogy of the race can be stretched to cover almost any of the targets we might set ourselves, it is of course,  referring to the most important 'race' we will ever run - and that is our life with God.  We must try and avoid the distractions that stop us running our race by 'fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.' (vs 2)  Can I encourage you - wherever you are in your race to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.  He will help you to avoid distractions, and will encourage you to keep running with perseverance - even when faced with adversity and exhaustion.

Perhaps you would benefit from finding yourself a trainer - someone who will run with you, encouraging you and cheering you on - but ultimately - the only way you are going to finish the race marked out for you is by keeping your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus :)

Enjoy the run!

Oh - and just to finish the story - I ended up having Crunchy Nut Cornflakes for breakfast.  Not quite as good as porridge - but did the trick :)