Life in the United states is sometimes radically different from life in India. In India, if I had to go to some place for the first time, I would just go to the bus stop, inquire about the bus to take me to the place I needed to get to, catch that bus, get off, and ask an autorickshaw driver or shopkeeper for the way to my final destination. But here in the USA, that simply cannot be done! For one, buses are few in number and run on a tight schedule. Second, there is simply no one on the road to ask for directions! Taking a car to unknown places is therefore extremely confusing. But there is one very very useful device that acts as a life saver for someone who just doesn't have any sense of direction (someone like me ). That device is a GPS. Using a GPS is easy, and makes travel smooth sailing. All I have to do is switch it on, and type in the address I need to get to, and voila - it starts telling me what to do! Phrases like "Take exit 770A on right to clinton drive", "Make a U-Turn" start pouring forth, and i follow instructions meekly and to the dot. And in nine cases out of ten, I reach my destination correctly. This got me thinking about the Lord and His instructions to us. The Lord is also like a GPS. He knows where I need to go, and tells me what to do. But I, who follow the GPS so meekly, tend to doubt the Lord, the one who created the whole world and everything imaginable in it! I find myself stopping to ask Him about whether He really knows what He is doing - I who so unquestioningly take every turn the GPS tells me to take! What folly!
Another thing about the GPS is that it is flexible. If it tells me to make a turn, and I fail to, it immediately recalculates the route and gives me directions to get back on track. The Lord is like that too. Even when we make certain bad decisions in life, He doesn't abandon us because of those choices. Instead, He lovingly redirects us to put us back on track. It is up to us to follow what He says. If we do, He will certainly lead us to Heaven and Eternal Life, for unlike the GPS, there is no margin of error for the Lord!
The third thing that struck me in my endeavours with the GPS was this - At times when I lose sattelite coverage in a particular area, (especially areas where there are numerous tall buildings) and the GPS stops telling me what to do, I get panicky and go crazy! I immediately head out to open spaces, where buildings cannot block the GPS's signals. The same and more should be said for the Lord. When we are not in the Lord, the correct response is fear and an immediate exertion to get back in contact with Him. The cares of the world, and its numerous vaporous attractions may blind us and draw us away from the Lord. At such times, we should shun the wily temptations the devil throws our way, and rush out to the Lord. Let God be your GPS!
