Tag: grace

Use Your GPS

We love being on the trails on our quad. It’s a two-person Outlander and perfect for the trails in Michigan. We go trail riding every chance we get; but, with our busy lives, that is only two or three times a month at the most. Every trip is a blast.

Yesterday started off at the South Branch trail head. We saw several more riders than we normally do, but the trails were still quiet and peaceful. For most of the day, we were all alone without another soul in sight. It was perfect.

The Michigan trail system is pretty well organized. Most trails are numbered and marked to let you know what trail you are on and who is allowed to be on that trail – quad, side-by-side, dirt bike or snowmobile. We always have a printed trail map with us and recently started using a GPS app on our phone with trail maps downloaded. Both of these mapping resources have kept us from getting lost which would be easy to do with so many trails and back roads intersecting in the “middle of nowhere.”

Yesterday, while I was enjoying the scenery and relaxing on the back of our quad, I realized just how important our maps are – both the GPS app and the paper map. We usually check the GPS when we come to an intersection, but yesterday we basically did a mental coin flip and just decided “let’s try this way.” When we got to the next intersection a couple miles away, we noticed that the trail we had taken without checking the map was actually not for quads. We weren’t supposed to be there even though there was no sign stating this fact. It was missing. We immediately checked the map to make sure we chose a legal trail at the next intersection. We got back on track before we got in trouble.

How many times does this happen to all of us in life? We think we have enough experience to choose the right path without checking the map God has given us, and we realize later that we are somewhere that we are not supposed to be. This has happened to me so many times over the years that I couldn’t even begin to list them all.

All I had to do to avoid these wrong-turns was to listen to God’s word but I didn’t. Oh, I may have told myself I was listening to God when I took the road; but, if I later found myself on the wrong path, it meant I wasn’t really listening to Him. I was wrapping His word around my will instead of my will around His word.

In Psalm 119 verse 105 David says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

Genesis through Revelations is the GPS God has given us. Some of it can seem a bit confusing at times, but that doesn’t mean the answers aren’t there for you. Use that GPS to keep your life on the path God wants you traveling. If you stay on the wrong path for too long, it could mean circumstances far worse than the ticket we could have received yesterday for being on the wrong trail on our quad.

Hidden Headlights

This Christmas season, I have done a bit more thinking than I normally do about the Christmas season as a whole…the Christmas lights and tree and other decorations, the original reason for our celebrations, the way Christmas has become so commercialized in the last few decades, the way we take for granted that everyone we celebrate with this year will be here to celebrate with us next year.

Many years ago I drove a gorgeous, black, 1980-something TransAm. It had all the options, gold ground effects, nice wheels, and T-tops, of course. I loved that car. I looked good driving that car. I did have one problem with it, though. After I had driven it for a while, the headlights started to stick. They would turn on, but they wouldn’t open out of the hood like they were supposed to. I had lights, but no one could see them. I may as well not have had any lights at all.

This Christmas season, I have done a bit more thinking than I normally do about the Christmas season as a whole…the Christmas lights and tree and other decorations, the original reason for our celebrations, the way Christmas has become so commercialized in the last few decades, the way we take for granted that everyone we celebrate with this year will be here to celebrate with us next year. I have thought a lot about the loss of both sets of my grandparents, the loss of a close friend of my boyfriend, the loss of another friend’s father, and the many people I know who are feeling the recent loss of a close relationship. We’ve all heard the old saying, “We don’t know what tomorrow may bring;” but we don’t always take it seriously until it is too late.

In Matthew chapter 5, versus 14 through 16 Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” If you are a forgiven child of God, you have a light in the form of the Holy Spirit living in you. Do you let that light shine so the people around you can see it? Do you, instead, keep it “under the hood” and hidden most of the time? Do the people closest to you know you are a Christian? Do you play it safe in this difficult political climate our nation is in and keep your light private so only you and those closest to you can see it?

We really don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We don’t know if the people around us will be here in another year, month, week, day or even hour. We have been instructed by Jesus to keep our light shining so that those around us can see it and come to know God by seeing His light in us. If your light cannot be clearly seen, take the necessary steps to uncover it and make it shine brightly. Just like I had to have someone work on my car so the lights would open out of the hood and be seen, we should take our hearts to the One who can make sure we are shining like a headlight on the narrow road.

At the End of the Day…

During my lunch break today, I ran some errands. The first stop was to the post office closest to my office. I only have an hour for lunch, so I assure you I cringed inwardly at the long line and the fact that only one person was working the counter.

During my lunch break today, I ran some errands. The first stop was to the post office closest to my office. I only have an hour for lunch, so I assure you I cringed inwardly at the long line and the fact that only one person was working the counter. “I am in a hurry and this post office should know better than to have only one person working when so many people will be running their errands during their lunches. Good grief! And it’s Christmas package mailing season on top of that,” I thought to myself. I watched silently not revealing my thoughts as the line slowly crept forward and did my best to hold a smile on my face even though I didn’t feel that smile in my heart during those moments. It didn’t take me long to realize the young woman at the counter was being trained by the man standing beside her.

In the fifteen minutes I was in that line, I heard four people make a string of very loud comments about how slow the line was and how inadequate the service was. There was not one person in that room smiling…or even not frowning…other than the young woman at the counter and myself.

When it was finally my turn in the line I bought my stamps, paid my postage and told her to keep smiling. “You are doing a great job. Ignore anything that says otherwise from the other customers today. I mean it. You’re doing a great job and while in training, too. Don’t let them get you down.” Her smile grew just a little as her trainer smiled at me and told me he had said the same things to her this morning.

Did I get all my errands run during my lunch today? No, but does it really matter? The errands missed will get done after work tonight or during lunch tomorrow. I wanted them done today, but at the end of the day will this really matter enough to give it another frustrated thought? No.

Did any of the other customers in that post office today change their circumstances by scowling or saying what they thought about the service? No, they continued to stand in that line until they made it to the counter and took care of their business.  When they were done, they left with their frowns showing clearly on their faces and their negativity showing clearly on their hearts. I’m sure many if not all vented afterwards about their visit to the post office to everyone they spoke to that afternoon, but what does venting about it accomplish? It spreads the negativity in the heart of the complainer to the mind of the listener. Sadly, that negativity will spread not just to the minds of the listeners but also to the hearts of some listeners.

Wouldn’t this world be a better place if instead of venting about minutes lost, we chose to spread grace and mercy from heart to heart this holiday season? At the end of the day…at the end of all days…it’s the condition of the heart that matters. Does the condition of your heart encourage or discourage other people who cross your path each day?