Directions

Directions

 

 

I had made the drive to and from Raleigh, NC, a few times now and I had become confident that my directionally challenged self, could find my way home without assistance of the Garmin, sitting in the front seat. This was a few years ago and I did not have an IPhone to correctly direct my path, nor did my car have Blue Tooth or my phone for that matter. I headed home, feeling good as we had gotten out of the meeting, early, and this meant I would be home around 7 and not the normal 8 p.m. About an hour into my drive, I realized that I had missed an important exit and decided to stop and ask for directions back to I-85.The person at the convenience store was not much help and sent me on a wild goose chase down a back road that led me once again to another store. By this time I was so far off track the store clerk did not have clear understanding of where I-85 was. I was completely thrown off guard by this, as I have always lived close to this interstate and this made me realize exactly how far off course I had been led. Finally someone from the area told me to turn left out of the parking lot and it would take me to I-85. Relieved, I hopped back in the car and began a terrifying trip down a two lane road, in the dark. I called my husband, but he was unable to help me as he had no idea where I was either. He was just as worried and worked with the little he had to try to help me. Of course, my phone battery was getting low. In an effort to save my battery, we hung up and I continued to drive. I turned the Christian station I was listening to up and cried as I realized I had no idea where I was and the only light I could see was from the houses far off the road, mingled between long stretches of farm land. At one point I was hysterical in my pleas with God to help me find my way. I just drove through the darkness, frantically looking for the familiar road signs that would point me toward the highway I so desperately sought. Finally, I saw a sign that pointed I-85 forward. I was so relieved that again, I cried. I was shocked to see that I ended up in Burlington, NC, only an hour and a half from home. I made it home around 9:00 that night and hugged my husband, thankful to be home.

“Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you are going, how can we know the way?”

John 14:5

Have you ever been invited to a meeting, but didn’t know the way to the conference room referenced in the invite? What about dinner with a group of friends and everyone knew where the “usual” place was, except you? You are not alone! The disciples had been a privileged group of men that got to walk with the Savior for 3 years, yet when Jesus sat with them during Passover and began to prepare them for his death and then told them not to worry, that he was going to prepare a place for them – they were clueless! Thomas, innocently ask, what I am sure the rest of them were thinking. Um, Jesus, are you going to give us directions to this place you are “preparing”? I know I would have been, clueless, as well. I’m pretty sure that if I was in the, Christ is the son of God circle, and not the,  this man is crazy, circle, that I would have believed He was here to prepare an earthly Kingdom. You know, like King David and He was going to save us from the Romans? Right? I can imagine the confusion in the room as the disciples start to realize that He was talking about His death. I am sure that some shook it off as more parables He would explain later.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”

John 14: 6-7

Um, what? I think that would have been the thought in my head? What did He just say? I’m just being honest, friends. Especially that last line? So, if I know you, I also know your father and from now on I have seen Him? I don’t think the disciples got it either.

“Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.”

John 14:8

If I’m Peter, I’m like, thank you, Philip! Whew, so happy I am not the only one that needs to see the Father. Okay, I’m getting a little silly, but if you read this conversation, without the benefit of the knowledge of the Cross and Resurrection, one can image how confused they were. Remember, this was before the Holy Spirit had come on them. They did not fully understand what Christ was telling them.

Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that

I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in Me does His works.

Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.

John 14: 9-11

When I talk to people that are not Followers of Christ, I find myself sad that even though they have been shown the directions to eternal life, they still have a hard time following them. Before that faithful, Easter Sunday, when I accepted Christ as my personal Savior, I would have told everyone that I was saved and eternally secure. I had been raised with a good knowledge of the Bible, I knew that one must believe in Christ to enter the Kingdom, and of course, I had been baptized. I was not following the directions. To know who Christ is, to know the sacrifice He made on the cross, to be baptized, are just landmarks on the map. To follow the directions one must understand that Christ is the, Way, Truth, and Life. One must accept that to go to the Father, they must go through Christ. When your heart fully accepts what that means. Only then, have you followed the directions. The other, is just stuff. For me, it was a moment that stood still in time when my heart understood why my Savior was on the cross. I, had put Him there. The choir sang, Behold the Lamb, and I watched on a screen, a Hollywood portrayal of Christ crucified on the cross. In that frozen moment of time, I was transported to the cross and fully understood the consequences of my flesh. My very nature to sin, had created a need for a perfect sacrifice. One that could redeem me from past, present, and future sin. Christ understood before we were created, that free expression, freedom to choose, meant the inability to remain sinless. He choose, before Creation, to die. He could have chosen another plan or cease all together. Instead, He created a world, destined to fail, and prepared a way for those that accept Him, to have eternal life.

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.

If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into

the fire and they are burned.

John 15:5-6

Abba Father, my Savior, my redeemer, my eternal hope. I pray for all of those that do not believe this road is for them. Those that find the directions too simple and reject the idea that they are worth saving. I pray for those that sit in pews each Sunday, separated from the vine and unable to see this. Father, I have friends that do not believe they can be forgiven. I write their names in my journal and I lift them to you. Show them the Light, which has already forgiven them. Amen.