Road Trip

Do you remember the last time you went on a long road trip in your car? At some point along the way you had to make the decision whether or not to get gas. Depending on where you live and where your going, chances are that you can find a gas station with little difficulty.

For this example, let's say that you are going on a cross country road trip....

You fill up your gas tank and hit the road, your tires are smoking as you wave goodbye. Throughout the trip there are several places you could stop for gas; however, you decide to pass these up for now under the certainty that you'll come across several other gas stations sometime down the road.

You are just having too much fun in your new red convertible to take the time to stop for gas. The top is down, the wind is blowing through your hair, your sunglasses look cool, the sun is out, people are waving and admiring your sweet ride.

After a few hours you notice that the thrill of the ride has zoned you out and you suddenly realize that you are lost somewhere in the middle of the Mojave Desert. That's 25,000 square miles of sand, rocks, and blistering sun. Immediately you realize that your flashy convertible is not very good at keeping the sun out. To make matters worse you look down at the gas gauge and it shows near empty. The plethora of gas stations that you passed are now no where in sight. You are lost, alone, low on gas and no ones going to hear to hear your cries for help. So what do you do?

You turn to the only person that can help you...God. And so you begin to pray.

The story above is an example of when some people decide to pray. Why is it that the situation has to be serious or even life threatening before people suddenly "change their tune" and turn and toward the Lord?

This is a classic example of using God as a toy. In other words, the toy is always there, if you want to play with it you can, but most of the time you don't use it. It's exactly the the same way that a desperate act of prayer works. We use the Lord as a "God-in-the-Box" toy. Winding him up when we need him and then suddenly He pops out of the box and comes to our rescue. Do you think this is how God wants to work in our lives?

God looks forward to us praying to Him everyday. He expects it so that He can help us understand our daily direction. If we don't pray, then we will mostly likely pass up all those opportunities (gas stations) and some day realize that we've been "zoned out" for years and are suddenly in immediate and desperate need of Him.

Don't wait until the desperation sets in to pray and ask God for direction. Pray daily for the wisdom, patience, love, and guidance that only He can deploy into your life.

Seek Him daily and you will never get lost.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!