Stick out your thumb and join the rest of the world. Picture this. You’re having a bad day, well actually a very bad day. You find out that your house is about to be demolished, your best friend is not who you think he is, and the planet that you call home is about to be destroyed. Sound familiar?
Don’t worry … maybe you can hitch a ride to somewhere a little less stressful.
I read a book once … I heard someone (a big Hollywood production company) is even making a movie about. Anyway, it is about this guy who is having a bad day (similar to the condition above). He hitches a ride on a passing spacecraft, and the greatest adventure in the universe begins when his world ends. But he learns some useful things (like towels) and finds out the significance of life.
He discovers that everything he needs to know is found in one little book.
Can you relate? I know that every day it seems like I go through each horrific detail of the nightmare I had the night before. Late bills, lost and found friends, and a planet that’s slipping from underneath my feet. For practice, I wake up every morning and stick my thumb out the front door, hoping to catch the eye of some brilliantly shining spacecraft.
But … let’s be realistic for a minute. They’re probably not going to bulldoze my house, and my friends are not going to turn into aliens. And the planet earth probably isn’t going to get blasted away into a zillion little rocks that will float throughout the galaxy. Why then, is my life so flippin’ tough?
I’m not sure why I go through the things I do. I do know that I have a book that can help me through these problems. Too often, my perception of how God can work through my situations is tainted by the realization of my own little world getting blown up in front of my eyes. Even though I have a different version called “The Hitchhikers Guide to Eternal Life,” I still find myself thumbing through the pages of “The Real World for Dummies.”
In spite of all the things I crave and my struggle to adhere to finding the answers to all of life’s questions, I seek refuge in one thing … Your love is better than life.
No matter what I can do, I can’t escape His love. He gave me the guide, and it’s the calling on my life to figure out how to carve that phrase into my heart.
Next time your house is about to be razed, take the words of the psalmist and make them yours: “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you … Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands …”
[Bo Lane is a young, balding minister whose life goal is to master the art of bow staffing and to live a life pleasing to God … of course. He also maintains his website www.boandmelissa.com.]
