Couch Surfing—Liberian Style

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 

Several year ago Mark and I were in the car and headed down the main road that runs through Monrovia when a pick-up truck caught our attention. In the bed was a man sitting on a sofa. He had his arm across the back of the sofa as if he were settled in to match his favorite TV show. The gate of the pick-up was down, and because this seemed rather precarious—and was made even worse by the light rain that had just started—Mark decided he would pull ahead of the pick-up so if anything happened we wouldn't run over the man. 

Obviously the driver of the pick-up driver did not appreciate this because just as we were feeling good about the move, the pick-up flew past us and jerked into our lane. And then, in what has to be the most stunning incident we have ever witnessed on the road (and we have witnessed a lot of stunning incidents!), because of the manner and the speed in which the driver whipped into our lane, the sofa slid off of the back of the pick-up and onto the road, where it bounced dramatically toward us—all of the time with the man in the same position. Mark slammed on the brakes and we watched as the sofa came to a stop—immediately in front of our car. The man removed his arm from the back of the sofa, stood up, looked around as if to say, "I can't believe I lived through that!" and then walked to the edge of the road.

This is so like what I have done myself. Although I would never sit in an open pick-up on a sofa going down the street in the rain, I have placed my trust in things that, although they appeared solid enough, were not truly grounded.

When I put my faith in something less than the truth of God's Word—and that includes my particular version of the truth—I am elevating myself above God. I am attempting to make God in my image rather than behaving as a woman made in the image of God. I have done this both by taking extra-biblical, legalistic positions  and, conversely, by ignoring what God clearly says in His Word because, after all, surely He doesn't mean I should do that! 

And the result is completely predictable. Eventually the lie in which I have put my faith falls apart and it becomes apparent that, although I can continue to take my less-than-biblical stand, God's love for me is too great for Him to allow me to go on believing the lie will work indefinitely.

So, when spiritually I find myself perched on a sofa in the back of a pick-up running through the traffic of life, I have two choices. I can sit there and wait for a sure-to-come disaster or I stop the pick-up, get off the sofa, and walk to safety. Only in God's truth is there solid ground and true safety.

See Fruit, Fruit and More Fruit.
See Lessons My Grandma Taught Me Without Saying a Word.
See Being True to My First Identity.