"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." - Deuteronomy 6:6-9
My car died today. I was on my way down the mountain with three other people, when all of a sudden I just completely lost power. We glided to a stop, attempted to start it a few times, and then gave up. Thankfully, I was in an area with cell phone reception, and I was able to call someone at the ranch. William, my next door neighbor, came and got us. He then took the time to go back down with the tractor and tow my car back to the ranch. I rode in the car and steered while the tractor pulled me. I couldn't help but think of the spiritual application in that moment. I am like my car in that I am completely helpless and useless without the Spirit of God within me. He is the power that moves me. Like the tractor, He often has to pull me along in the direction He wants me to go. I can either be obedient and steer in the direction He is pulling me, or I can resist and end up in a ditch. When I am obedient and steer in the right direction, He gets me to the final destination - exactly where I need to be. The only way to know which direction the Lord is pulling, is to keep my eyes focused on Him. It is so important that we constantly be in God's presence, and yet we often try to keep Christ separate from different aspects of our lives. It is my desire to someday reach a point when God's commandments are in my thoughts when I am home, when I walk, when I lie down, and when I get up - every moment of every day.
After feeling sorry for myself and my car troubles, the Lord reminded me it could always be worse. This evening, I read a blog of another missionary serving with another ministry here in Honduras. I know her from my church here. She wrote how her computer was stolen out of her car when she was standing right by it. She didn't realize one of the doors was not locked, and she was literally within feet of the car when it happened. She never saw it. She was absolutely devastated. Her computer is her connection to her friends and family back home. It had all her photos, all her music, all her documents. I realized how easily I take things for granted. Now my car not starting doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore. If I could just reach a point in my life where I stay in God's presence, the things of this world would no longer matter! It's all a matter of perspective.
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