The Instruction Manual

Good Morning All!

This past Sunday we took a closer look at Micah 6: 1-8 that contains the wonderful exchange between God and God’s people as if they were present in courtroom. God asks, “Dear people, how have I done you wrong?...” and goes on to point out some of the many ways God has provided for the people.

And then the people get their chance to speak and we hear the familiar question,
“With what shall I come before God?...and Micah speaks out, “God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does God require of you but to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?”

Much of scripture is like an instruction manual. We’re all familiar with the phrase, “When all else fails, read the instructions!” And I fear the same may be true for many of us when it comes to seeking guidance and wisdom for the living of our lives. When in doubt; when we’ve run out of time and patience; when we are at our wits end; when we are at the end of our rope; when our life is in a mess; when we’ve dismissed any and all hope; when we’ve exhausted all other resources to answer the big questions in life; it’s then that we finally turn our thoughts to God and God’s Word for our next instructions.

Anne Lamott In her book Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year, describes the afternoon she misplaced her father. It seems his brain cancer had progressed to the point where he was functioning much like an eager-to-please three year-old. She needed to go to the bank and because she could not leave him home alone, she took her father with her. The nature of her bank business was such that she couldn’t use the drive-thru so she made sure he was securely belted in his seat and gave him a candy bar to keep him busy.

Of course there was a long line. And because she was uncomfortable leaving him there in the car she found herself asking those around her to hold her place and she checked on him through the bank window. The last time she looked, he wasn't there -- the car was empty! She felt like adrenaline had been injected directly into her heart. She paused to calm herself and as she went to leave the bank, she could see her disoriented dad passing by the window, his face smeared with chocolate…holding his candy bar, staring up at the sky as if were expecting his next operating instructions.

Sometimes you and I pace back and forth; drive endlessly through the country back roads to clear our minds; or we toss and turn at night restlessly trying to figure out our next operating instructions. And we too find ourselves looking up toward the heavens for God… (and more than likely I too have chocolate smeared on my face :) ) seeking God; seeking desperately for a word from God; to hear God telling us what to do next…

We are guilty of wasting so much time and energy looking for answers in unsatisfactory places. People of God! God’s has already given us an instruction manual and has made it plain how to live; what to do. It’s quite simple and yet it’s quite complex. And it’s so life changing if we dare to live it out. "Do what is fair and just to your neighbor; be compassionate and loyal in your love; and don’t take yourself too seriously…take God seriously…" (Eugene Peterson’s translation)

Blessings, Joanne