Life's GPS

 

GPS has taken such a hassle out of my travel life.  And Waze has made it even better.  But I have found that both are not always accurate.  New construction and lagging updates leave glitches in technology.  Friday, I used Google maps to find the local Walmart in Panama City Beach, Florida.  But according to the map, the Walmart was located in the middle of a lake!  Evidently, the small lake had been filled in to make room for the new Wally world.  The map just hadn’t been updated.  Maps are made by humans and are subject to human error.  But the directions in our lives are ordered by the good Lord Who never makes a mistake.  Joseph had no plans for slavery and prison in Egypt, but both were in God’s plans for his life.  Daniel hadn’t planned on being dragged off to Babylon as a teenage P.O.W.  He hadn’t counted on back-stabbing pagan colleagues.  But God led Daniel on a winding road, even through a den of lions.  The Lord told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  Hey, has your life taken some detours that Waze hadn’t foreseen?  Have you been delayed beside life’s roadside?  Never forget: God knows exactly where you are.  He has not forsaken you.  You are His dear child, and He will take you safely through, all the way to your heavenly home.  Trust God; you’ll never be sorry that you did.

Hammer and Sickle Emblem

In 1992 we traveled to Chernivtsi, Ukraine, which was part Romania before WWII.  I spoke at a large Romanian church on a Sunday.  There were believers from many ethnic groups in attendance that Sunday.  As I preached, one translator spoke to a group in Romanian, another in Russian, and another in Ukrainian.  It was noisy but thrilling.  I focused only on what I was saying, and it went well.  That afternoon, waiting for dinner, I wandered through the sanctuary.  I looked through the song books in the choir loft to see if I recognized any hymns.  To my amazement, the hymnals were composition notebooks with handwritten hymns!  I explained to our host, Alexandru (nicknamed Sasha), that I wanted a Hammer and Sickle emblem for a friend in America.  He said that he would work on it.  Two days later, as we were driving to the border leaving the Ukraine for Romania, we drove past thousands of acres of windblown fields.  Sasha had me stop and pick up a man walking along the road.  He crowded into the back seat of our rental car, and we continued toward the border.  I discovered that this hitchhiker was a border guard supervisor.  Since we had given him a ride, he would expedite our paperwork when he arrived at his post.  As the guard got out of our car, he “accidentally” left his hat in the back seat.  I started to return the hat, but Sasha stopped me with a wink.  The guard had traded his Hammer and Sickle emblemed hat for a free ride to work.  Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

 

Vasile Filat

 

When I visited Chişinău, Moldova Republic in 1992, I met an interesting young man, Vasile Filat.  He had been a Christian since the early 80’s and involved in Taekwondo with his Christian coach, Ion Cheptene.  As a high school student, Vasile had trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior.  But under communism, the Bible was a forbidden book.  As a Taekwondo master, Vasile told the authorities that each studio (dojo) used religious meditation, or ki, to sharpen their focus.  And instead of using Confucianism or Buddhism for meditation, Vasile’s dojo used Jesus Christ for their meditation.  So, the communist authorities shrugged and left them alone.  Kids flocked to this Christian Taekwondo studio with its legal Bible study program.  Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might …”