Directionally Challenged

I’m so thankful that God can find us more easily than we can find ourselves.

Since big Taxi wiped out little car, we took a bus into Inverness to look for a new car. We had a map. Alan read the map. He stopped along the sidewalk every few yards to consult the map and make sure we were going in the right direction. Once he stopped in the street and I had to pull him to safety.

We briskly and confidently walked four miles, never realizing we were lost until approaching the same roundabout for the third time from the third different direction. Looking at the map again – this time in the rain since we had lost the sun as well as ourselves – we realized that while we had already walked four miles, we needed to go at least four more miles in the opposite direction to get to the car dealership. We gave up.

I laughed all the way back to the bus station. It was so funny that Alan had diligently followed the map, only to be lost. Besides; becoming physically lost is a minor and temporary frustration when the soul has found God.

God gave us the Bible as an infallible map through life. When we follow it, we circumvent lifestyle choices that can steal our health, peace of mind, and rob us of our joy. With the Bible as our guide, we can never lose our most important and valuable possession – our soul.

But here on earth…don’t walk or ride with us unless you have a good sense of direction and aren’t in a hurry. You might just wind up in the very Brigadoonish Luss. We did!

Building it Up

I went running tonight. People go running everyday. Runners spend years training for events like the Boston Marathon, which ended so tragically and with such senseless destruction. But the highlight of my run tonight was sharing the story with others that Jesus healed my leg. He healed it and I know it’s healed, but it will take time to build it up again since it was weak and wounded for so long.

I can’t explain why Jesus healed my leg and not everyone gets the same results. I only know that before the healing, severe, shooting pain in my right thigh would hit unexpectedly and nearly knock me to the ground. The pain was so crippling that I actually contemplated going to the doctor–something I haven’t done in 10 years. Then I received prayer in our Monday Night Bible Study and Jesus healed my leg. Instantly. I was back to walking and running the next day. Because I had not used my right leg fully for some time, I’m working on building it up.

Just as I can’t explain why Jesus healed my leg and doesn’t heal everything every time anyone asks Him, I can’t explain the senseless violence at the Boston Marathon. How does one explain senseless? Nor can I explain the blast in Texas and the resulting devastation. I can say, “Praise the LORD” that it happened when school was out and that so few people were killed in comparison to the physical damage.

People that don’t believe in God are quick to blame Him for things like the bombing and the explosion. They like to claim that a good God would not allow bad things to happen. They don’t realize that God made the world perfect and that evil entered in by human choice. Once evil was unleashed, it grew like a small tree that is taken out of a nursery container and planted in the ground by a river. I’m not intelligent enough to argue with doubters and give them all the proofs they need to believe in God. But this I know: God is real because His Holy Spirit lives inside me…and Jesus healed my leg. Jesus did His part in healing. Now I must do my part and work to strengthen it.

The U.S. has been hurt. It’s torn and bleeding. Healing will take time. Strengthening will take time. Prayer is immediate. All of us who believe can pray. Those who don’t believe in God and the power of prayer will just have to trust luck.

With God, all things are possible, even healing. I prove it with every step I take.