While a Service Manager at the Mercedes Benz dealer in La Jolla, we had mostly a local clientele, as La Jolla was isolated. One customer, an elderly woman, called one day, telling me of a trip north she was planning, and could I check out her car for the trip. When she stopped by the next day, we got talking of her trip. Up north, was it San Francisco? The Napa Valley? Maybe Oregon or Seattle? "No," she told me, she was going to Del Mar. Eight miles away! To her, up north, for she rarely ventured from the village. I imagine down south meant San Diego!
Day two with Mary FNY was our planned trip to Montauk Point, as far east as you can go on Long Island. And although Mary had lived there her whole life, she had never ventured farther than Sag Harbor and the Hamptons. So we started our ride, with the backup plan of visiting her cousin who lives in Sag Harbor. Now the ride is mostly four laner, until you get to the outskirts of the Hamptons, then turns into two lane local roads. And I am still amazed at how one stop sign can cause such a traffic jam. So we decided to stop at a deli for something to drink, and a pit stop. The smells from this pizza/deli were contagious, so I advised Theresa and Mary to check it out. Theresa came back, then followed by Mary, with the owner. Who rides, a Harley, and turned us on to some great back roads, to see the real beauty, and miss all the traffic. And so we came into Sag Harbor not as a tourist would, but as the locals do. Breathtaking beauty, lots of green, farms, polo grounds, and things we would have missed on the highway. While stuck in traffic.
While cruising the village, which has people who note an empty parking space, and guide you to it, we stopped in an antique shop, and looked over the local goodies. The woman there was very friendly, and when we told her that we might be staying in Sag, encouraged us to go to the Point. Which was only 20 miles away, and without her encouragement, we would have missed. Again on back roads out of town, and going through the Hamptons and the other small villages along the way. And the point was breathtaking. Blue sky and ocean all around, and the lighthouse. With no people! Surely God had blessed us by encouraging us to go-and taking the roads we did! Then lunch at a clam bar on the way back, and somehow life just doesn't get any better. All because God sent two people to direct and encourage us!
Same destination, different trip. Just like being a Christian and knowing home is heaven. But without the rules and legalism that religion puts on us. Being led by the spirit, trying new things when guided by Him, and allowing God to be our guide-Lord is what we call Him, so why don't we let Him lead?
Why are so many Christians like the woman in La Jolla, and never venture out and into the beauty God provides? Maybe our lack of trust of God, when combined with leaning on our own understanding curtails God's will for us, and robs us of blessings. When just a simple step of faith, or ride of one, takes us into places with Him, and we are able to have a relationship with Him, based on trust and love-His! Not our own understanding. A peace with a security that surpasses any understanding. But you must let Him!
Jay Gatz, aka the Great Gatsby, once noted the rich are different than us. There is truth in that. But even truer is the richness only found in Jesus Christ. A richness not based on net worth or power, not based on social position or fame, but based on the spirit. Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
What does your Lord say? Not sure? Check out the road you are on. Laws, rules, and a performance based atmosphere? Try Jesus. And find true freedom in the Holy Spirit. Roads you would have missed, meals you would have forsaken, and traffic you would have avoided. Just because you would not have let the God you call Lord, guide you. A road not found on any map, but readily available to you when living in the spirit.
On a road to Montauk. Get the point?
love with compassion,
Mike
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