God Told Me!

  Once upon a time, a long time ago, and yet not so long ago, when you wanted to go on a road trip, you would have a road atlas. Maps, squiggly lines, roads they represented. You would study these maps, and you would plot your course. Then along came the GPS, it had the map integrated into it. It had your position on the map understood in it's gublins in some way that I cannot fully understand. It would plot your course for you. You would drive where it said. Then came the horror stories, people would drive through a rancher’s ranch and get headbutted by testy bulls, because the GPS said to turn left about 15 minutes ago. People would hook a right into a lake, because the  GPS said, turn right. Roads weren't where the GPS said they were, because the map was out of date, etc, and so forth. Hopefully these things didn't all happen to you, but you get the idea. Well, with the passage of time, and in the course of human events, the GPS became better, maps on the cloud ended up being more up to date, the route planner has a whiff of a clue now and then, so often times you can actually, sorta-ish, almost, maybe, kinda trust your GPS. WHOA. Anyway, it's just easier to use a GPS rather than a road atlas. A road atlas, you sit motionless, at the side of the road, gazing at squiggly lines until your eyes cross, asking deep life impacting questions, such as, where am I? To which your lovely spouse might reply, I dunno, kinda hoped you did. Finally, you set off on a course, and you pursue this doggedly, confidently, right up until you realize you're lost again, then the session repeats itself. Of course, if you try to read this atlas while driving, you might find yourself rendered motionless by the car in front of you that saw the red light you missed, then things get really complicated...anyway, where was I? Right, GPS’s are better. You drive and listen to instruction on a turn by turn, moment by moment basis. That said, of course you still study the maps, you still study the way to drive a car. There are basic laws of life on the road that should be understood and obeyed for things to flow properly. Now, imagine if someone whose GPS was a bit faulty and led them to a destination that seems to work for them would continually call you and tell you that this route is what you must take because their GPS told them so. Worse yet, what if they tell you that it is no longer necessary to drive on the left side of the road because their GPS told them so? 

 So, what if the Holy Spirit serves as a perfect GPS in a walk with, relationship with God, in this case the only flaws are in your ability to listen. The Bible serves as a story from God, wherein are all the fundamental laws of life, and even the very story of how we got here, both physically, and spiritually. The parallels are drawn, the roots of the Church are told to us. The nature of God, a nature of justice and mercy in constant tension, are told in a multitude of ways and at times graphically. So, these 2, hand in hand, should be all one needs for a wholesome life with God. Especially the Holy Spirit. For, without the Holy Spirit, the Bible can just seem like an old book that is hard to understand. 

 So why is it then, that people keep making "road atlases'' for you to live by? These road atlases come in the form of judgements, it is no longer enough to value modesty. Now you must value it by dressing in a certain precise manner. It is no longer enough to turn the other cheek, and not seek revenge, you must subscribe to a checklist of things you promise to never do, like never taking someone to court for example. It is no longer enough to value fellowship with other believers, you must go to church in a certain way, that is, a building where a preacher can speak to you. The list goes on, and I have done it to, so far be it from me to condemn anyone for building road atlases for people after what I've done. Also, these decisions aren't wrong if you feel so convicted personally, but to force others?? Suppose you want to escape the Spiritual Road Atlas crowd, be careful about how far you jump though, because in the other ditch you find the.....

 "My Spiritual GPS is better than yours!" people. These people will tell you a thing that seems wrong, and when you try to point out something like, "but the Bible says..", or, "but, that doesn't sound..." Or, "I don't quite agree..." They respond with, but no! God told me! I prayed about this, and that's it! God told me! It's one thing to hear about God telling someone something that doesn't make sense to you, but then they insist on you changing your behavior based on what "God told" them, what's a person to do? Like for example, the whole thing from a few years ago, "God told me to vote for Trump, and if you don't then you must just not care about the spiritual battle we are in." What to do when people try to rule your lives because of what God told them? I'm not sure, other than love 'em anyway. :) Is there a moral to this? Hm, probably just, let other people be on their own journey, and be available if they stop and ask for directions, but. don't try to drive their life for them. I for one hope God tells you many wonderful things that match scripture and help you make sense of it. Again, I have probably been guilty of this one too, so far be it from me to condemn...However, I do feel like it should be at least pointed out. I want to vent my frustrations with it for one, and I want to hit the eject button from both camps and stop participating in either situation. I wrote this down as a guide or a road atlas so to speak for you to know not to do it, and I did it because God told me to! Oh wait, about that.... Just live your life with God…. Blessings.:D