theROCK

Quo Vadis

Recently I took a trip to a small town in central Wisconsin. I was headed to farm country, a beautiful part of the state filled with enormous hills and valleys. I typed the numbers and street into the Map app on my phone, only to discover that the address did not exist. I knew it was right, I double and triple checked it before I left. But this address simply did not exist in the GPS world. So I put in a nearby city, something to get me close to where I needed to be.

Needless to say, this was not a relaxing trip. The entire time I kept wondering if I was on the right road, heading in the right direction, driving my car to the place I needed to be. 

Quo Vadis. It’s a Latin phrase roughly meaning “where are you going?” What have you programmed into your internal GPS? Do you have a specific destination in mind, or are you traveling someplace nearby? Too often in life we simply move without thinking. We react instead of carefully planning our routes. To live a life of faith means having one clear destination, one detailed map that guides everything we do. It’s the only way we can be guaranteed that we’re on the right road, heading in the right direction, and getting where we need to be.

Ask yourself today: Quo Vadis? Then start programming your own personal GPS.

Let Go and Let God

Many of us are familiar with Luke 5:1-11, the story of when Jesus went out into the boat of Simon the fisherman. After teaching the crowds nearer the shore, Jesus tells Simon to go out into the deep and put down the nets into the water. Even though they had been fishing all day without success, they follow His command.

To their surprise, more fish are caught than they can handle! What a humbling experience for these men. They realize that what they have witnessed is nothing short of a miracle and their curiosity and faith lead them to drop everything and follow Jesus.

How often in our daily lives do we push aside advice from someone, thinking that our idea or plan is better than theirs? How often could we be ignoring a call from God for us to look at something in a new light or new perspective, believing we already know everything there is to know.

Too often we are wrapped up in ourselves and our lives and do not notice that God the Father is guiding us and asking us to trust His way of doing things.

Put down your guard, put away your pride, and listen. Listen to God speaking to you and follow where He leads you. Offer up to Him a task or a challenge you are facing, and believe and trust that everything will turn out the way God has planned.

Let go and let God.

Living the Love

I have two favorite verses from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12:31-13:13), “Love is patient” and “Love never fails.” I think these two ideas call us to think of others and put others needs ahead of our own priorities or selfishness. Love exhibited as patience can repair so many ills in the world today. Did you get cut off in traffic? Be patient with that stranger. Has a co-worker or friend done something or said something that offended you intentionally or not? Practice love as patience. We never really know what others are carrying in their hearts.

We prove that love never fails when we look outside of ourselves to serve those around us. There’s no need to search out those in need. Life presents us with daily opportunities to love. Living the love described by Paul costs us nothing, but can change our life and the lives of those we touch, more than we can imagine or know.

Let’s make an extra effort to try to be patient with someone. In a quiet, unassuming way, let them see that Love Never Fails.