Where’d I park my car? (or, Adventures on Asphalt.)

I’m notorious for forgetting where I parked my car at Walmart.  If you ever see someone wandering about in a parking lot, it’s probably me.  And to make it worse, since Bob and I drive old cars, we don’t have that fancy fob that makes the car beep, honk, or otherwise send up a flare that says “over here, stupid!”  So I just consider my wanderings as getting in a little more exercise before going home to put away the groceries…

I do have some vestige of pride, however, after walking around somewhat dazed pushing a cart with melting frozen corn.  I would much rather identify my own vehicle BEFORE putting the key into the lock and realizing it doesn’t open the door (yeah, I’ve done that one also, thankfully without the true owner being there!)

Another challenge is that so many cars look alike.  Yes, Mustangs and Camaros aside, for the majority of us, there are basically shoe boxes and raisins.  We own one of each, both with that generic maroon paint job. So, when in doubt, one of the strategies I have used is to look into the car.  And, voila!  That’s my raincoat/canoe paddle/rumpled lunch bag, etc.  (C’mon, you know you use your car as a rolling storage space sometimes.)

Recognition is essential, even if there are many look-alikes in the same parking lot.  Otherwise, it gets a little embarrassing, not to mention considerably ineffective at getting home.

So I need to sit up and take notice when God says this one:

“But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character], that I am the Lord, Who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.”

Of course, that’s considerably more intense than simply pulling out and clicking on a key-fob.  In fact, who am I to think that I could really KNOW this formidable personality Who created the universe with His word?

So this~~

“And I will give them a heart to know (recognize, understand, and be acquainted with) Me, that I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.”

Seriously?! 

Part of the really, really Good News is that I’m not left stranded with my life melting away, wandering around looking for the correct vehicle to get me home.  And I don’t have to waste time (and personal humiliation) trying to unlock different ways to God. The car is parked in the spot where He left it, He knows where it is, and He guides me to it…

…Inviting me to get in and drive home before anything else gets too squishy.

Jeremiah 9:24; Jeremiah 24:7    Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation