GPS for Christians

Bruce Kendall Barnard

 

"Blessed are they that mourn...for they will be comforted."

Jesus—in the Sermon on the Mount

 

My kids gave me a new GPS (Global Positioning System) for Christmas. I'm just learning to use it. There are features that make no sense to me, like using it to send and answer cell-phone calls (isn't that why I have a cell-phone?). I admit - this Bluetooth technology is beyond me.

 

However, there is a "traffic" feature that I do like. If there's traffic along my route, a small green, yellow, or red logo with a car pops onto the screen. I touch that and instantly I'm alerted to traffic that is clear, or may slow me down, or might just stop me in my tracks. There is also an "AVOID" button - I can touch that and again, in an instant, I am given re-routing directions to avoid some disaster waiting for me ahead.

 

If I'm honest, there are days I wish my Christian life were like that. I wish that somehow God would pop up a little “God” widow on my Mac, or my cell phone, or my GPS—warning me of danger ahead. I would like to know in advance if I'm likely to encounter something that will slow me down or bring me to a complete halt. And if I just pushed that little avoidance button, I could miss it completely.

 

My father-in-law passed away last week. He was a good man, a godly man, a churchman (in fact, he passed away unexpectedly on his way home from church—an irony not lost on those who knew him!). Had I seen that coming, I think I would have hit the AVOID button. But that's not what Jesus wanted of me this week—in fact, he wants me to be blessed in the midst of my mourning. There are things in life we will never get over (like losing a parent, child, friend), but we will get through them. And that's the hope we have in the Lord. It’s called grace.

 

I will see my father-in-law again! We will walk and talk in the City on the Hill; we will fish the great rivers and streams of Heaven. And that's one reunion I do not want to AVOID.

 

Heavenly Father, I am so glad that I can call you Father. And not like a father who will die and leave me some day. But like Father who will be with me forever. Thank you for letting me enjoy for a few years Amy’s father, Larry. He was such a good man. I so much enjoyed our talks. I admired his straight-ahead trust in You. I loved it when he spoke of his relationship with His Heavenly Father. I even liked him for being a bold witness to other men on fishing trips. I was in awe at his single-mindedness. Heaven was always on his mind. Now he is there, with You. Keep him busy until we join him there. In the meantime, help me set my sails into the wind and always look for ways to avoid the things of life that will slow me down. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.