Disobeying Directions

As my week with the rental car wore on, I got more and more confident with my onboard friend. I could ask her to show me the nearest bookstore, how to avoid interstates when driving back to my hotel, or how to find an Outback Steakhouse.

In fact, one night I decided Outback sounded like a nice dinner choice, so I typed that into the machine, and she enthusiastically guided me on my way. But as we got closer to Outback, I saw a TGI Friday’s, and decided fish and chips sounded like a better choice. When Ms. AutoMap told me to turn left, I kept going straight. She did that a couple more times while I ignored her. I could tell she was a bit put out. Eventually, she told me she was “recalculating route,” but I didn’t give her the chance. I pulled into the Friday’s parking lot. Her response was icy silence right up until I turned off the ignition. And I felt kind of bad. I told her where I wanted to go, she dutifully prepared the directions, and then I ignored them and went my own way.

That was the second way that I decided this was like my relationship to God.

See, sometimes God tells me exactly what I need to go to make progress on the path He set me on. And sometimes I don’t just make a mistake. I intentionally go in a direction that I know isn’t His preferred route for me. And that’s when I get the still silence, the lack of response, the aloofness that sometimes drives me crazy. When I’m in those places of my own making, I’m usually surprised for a bit that He’s no longer shouting out directions. But I eventually figure out that I put myself into this spot. His response shouldn’t surprise me.

My Bible reading recently brought forth one of my favorite examples of disobedience (That’s sad that I have favorite examples of disobedience. I could probably come up with some examples of obedience... if I thought hard enough). In the book of 1 Samuel, Saul is giddy happy with the success he’s experienced in his pursuit of the Amalekites. He was on a mission from God to destroy them and he did… sort of. Because despite the instructions to wipe out everything, he decided to bring home a few spoils for himself. And the prophet Samuel, in one of the best examples of scriptural understatement, calls him on it.

“But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed." Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait, and let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak!"

Samuel said, "Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed you king over Israel, and the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.' "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?"

Then Saul said to Samuel, "I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

"But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal." (1 Samuel 15:16-21)

Another sign of faulty leadership - blame others for the mistakes.

In the following verse Samuel reminds Saul that what God wants is not spoils, but obedience. He doesn’t want us to sin in the process of pursuing something that God doesn’t want in the first place.

Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king." (1 Samuel 15:22-23)

At the end of my business trip, it was with some sadness that I returned the rental car to the carport and boarded my flight home. It was a safe bet that I knew how to get where I wanted to go. The question is, will I follow directions?

What part of your life is most susceptible to ignoring the right directions?

Finding God’s Word in the GPS

I had to travel recently for business, and my rental car reminded me of my relationship to God.

Not the car itself, but the cool piece of technology that is part Global Positioning System, part Mother Hen. When you type into the navigation system the address of the place you want to go, a pleasant-sounding woman talks you through the directions, illustrating her guidance with this neat-o electronic map.

Now I realize that people use onboard navigation systems every day, but this was all exciting and new for me. The vehicle I drive on my daily trek to work has crank windows, manual locks and a ticker-tape odometer. I don’t have a lot of experience with an electronic cruise director. In fact, the last time I rented a car with that feature, I had to turn it off and – kids, cover your ears – stop and ask for directions because I got so flummoxed by its instructions.

But this trip was a different story. When I disembarked from my plane on a rainy night, knowing that I had to drive about 30 miles to my hotel on strange interstates (OK, that’s not quite an accurate description. They were not “strange.” “Unfamiliar,” perhaps, but otherwise quite ordinary), I wasn’t too excited about trying to read my crinkled Map Quest printout while fumbling with the map light in a strange car (OK, again, “not my usual car,” but otherwise nothing “strange” about it). I decided to give the gadget a go.

I had trouble using it at first. I failed to notice all the electronic signals it gave me. When the pleasant-sounding woman wanted me to turn right, “now,” I didn’t think she meant, “now.” I missed a turn, and wound up going west on the interstate, when my electronic friend wanted me to go east. By the time I realized I had messed it up, and started figuring how to get back, the device’s pleasant voice assured me it was “recalculating route.” In a couple seconds, she told me again where to turn and how to get back on track. Once I did that, I was back on my route.

Because of my skillful adherence to her revised instructions, there was a part of me hoping she would exclaim, “Great job, you are now driving toward your destination!” But her affirmation was more subtle than that. About 10 miles later, she told me to stay left for exit 165. Apparently, I was back in her good graces.

That’s what I first thought that this machine was kind of like my relationship with God.

He knows where I should be going. He’s mapped out my route and calculated how long I need to travel. But a funny thing happens when I get behind the wheel of my life. I invariably get distracted, take a wrong turn, say something I shouldn’t or don’t do something I should. Sometimes I have found myself WAY off track. But each time, I envision He patiently recalculates my route so I can extract myself from the swamp I’ve driven into. But it’s up to me to follow those directions and get back to my original route.

I was a bit surprised Sunday when the pastor preached about car navigation systems, too. Apparently, whoever wrote the letter to the Hebrews was also concerned that the church had a tendency to ignore the navigation guidance that it had been given. But the writer stresses that the directions were clear, complete and built entirely on the grace of salvation offered through Jesus Christ.

“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” Hebrews 2:1-4 NIV

It constantly amazes me that my own problems have precedence thousands of years earlier. It’s somehow comforting to know that even if I had an electronic navigation system back then, I could still get lost. Just like I get lost even when I have thousands of years of divine wisdom at the ready.

What generally causes you to fall off track?

Tomorrow: Intentional Misdirection