Directions

The directions were simple.  A link from the website provided a local map.  On examination there were familiar land marks with boundaries north and south.  It should have been easy to follow; but it wasn’t!  Nothing was where it should have been.  As Cherry and I cruised south it should have been obvious that either the map or I was wrong.  Maps are never wrong.  On this night the exception proved true. 
 
Intuitively I knew I couldn’t remember anything resembling our destination in the area the map indicated was true.  Yet I assumed the source could never be wrong.  Cherry was ready to second-guess the map from the moment we started.  She thought she knew where we were going and was quite willing to just go there without any directions.  In the end we followed her sense and arrived just in time.
 
Far too often my response to God is as haphazard as trying to find our destination on Route 17 South.  I trust sources with dubious credentials.  Alternatively I want to rely on my internal sensors to take me to my destination on autopilot.  Testing the source is rarely considered as part of my course of action.  Relying on validated directions seems to be a course of last resort.  I initially blamed my resident ego and myself for the problem, yet I find as I read that I am not alone.  Everyone seems to have the same fears and doubts.  We are not sure, we walk along in dazed confusion, and we wonder why we get lost.
 
God invites us to test and validate the principles of compassion, mercy, and acceptance.  Jesus came along and bluntly responded to the doubters of his time; “There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home.  If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you?”  (John 14.2)  So the question remains open for you and me today.  Do we know what God has promised?  Have we checked Divinity out?  God wants us to be intelligent.