Let me share with you a little parable to make this vivid. I am sharing this out of my own experience. I know what it is to struggle to please God with my own efforts. I have tried at times to be more “religious.” But I have felt so frustrated. I have not known what to do! But I have learned that this is just part of the process that makes our walk with Jesus come alive.
This parable concerns a map and a guide: Suppose you are in a certain place and you need to find the way to a distant destination over country that you have never traveled. God gives you two options. You can have a map, or you can have a personal guide.
You are strong. You are clever. You are self-reliant. God says to you, “What do you want, the map or the guide?” You respond, “I’m good at reading maps. I’ll take the map.” Knowing the right direction to take, you set off down the road. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and you feel happy. You say to yourself,
“This is easy! This is a piece of cake!”
About three days later, you are in the middle of a jungle. It is midnight. It is raining. Hard! Furthermore, you are on the edge of a precipice. You do not know whether you are facing north, south, east or west. But a gentle voice says, “Can I help guide you?” And you reply, “Oh, I need you! I need you!” The Guide says,
“Give me your hand and I’ll get you out of this.” A little while later, you and your Guide are out on the road again and walking along side by side.
Then it occurs to you, “I was pretty silly to get so panicky just about being in that jungle. I could have made it on my own.” So you turn around to explain this to your Guide, and the Guide is not there any longer! You shrug your shoulders and say, “Well, I can make it on my own,” and you set off again.
About two days later, you are in the middle of a bog and you sink a little deeper with every step you take.
You do not know what to do! You think to yourself, “I can’t ask for help again. Last time I got it and I didn’t do the right thing.”
At this moment, you discover to your astonishment that the Guide is right beside you once more. He says,
“Let me help you,” and you start off together again.
At this point, you remember the map that is still in your pocket. So you take it out and offer it to the
Guide saying, “Maybe you’d like that.” But the Guide says, “Thanks, I know the way, I don’t need the map.”
Then he says, “As a matter of fact, I made the map.”
The map, of course, is the law. It is perfect. Every detail is exactly right. Every single item in the geography is correctly marked. It is up to you to decide, “I won’t take the map. I’ll trust my Guide.”
Who is the personal Guide? The Holy Spirit, of course!
How often does this kind of thing need to happen? How many times will we go back to trusting our own wisdom and our own cleverness and in this way snub the Holy Spirit?
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