The Road to Guymon?

Wednesday evening, I was driving to Guymon, Oklahoma for business. I've made this trip many times and it's about 6 hours one way from Tulsa, with a stop for a drive-thru meal along the way. It's important to note, at this point in this posting, that I just love coffee, particularly Starbucks. Well, the last Starbucks (and the last great cup of coffee before I would return to Tulsa the next day) is in Enid. But I hit Enid around 6:00pm, and my plan was to get into the motel, catch up on my Acts 29 reading and prayer, and hit the rack early. So, I resisted, knowing the cup of joe would keep me up much later than I wanted. Well, 15 miles past Enid, I could literally taste and smell the cup of coffee back in town. I craved it and regretted my decision to drive past. I could think of nothing else.



Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me, and brought my mind and heart to Matthew 5:6. In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, He says: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Quickly I remembered my conversation with a friend the day before. He had just been through the first couple weeks of a new diet that severely restricted carbs. He lamented that after a week or so on the diet, a wood pencil started to look tasty...all he could think of was Carbs!!!!



This is the way we are to seek Righteousness! Like we can't think of anything else, like we can smell it in the air, remembering the "taste" of it, and nothing will satisfy us but Righteousness. I confess, I've missed the mark here. Consider later in the same chapter, Matthew 5:20, "For I tell you, (Jesus talking here) unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." And one of my most cherished verses, Matt. 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."



Well, this was an awakening for me, and I was so thankful for the illumination of the Spirit that the rest of my drive was just so rich with communion and thankfulness. But God wasn't done yet.



Around 9pm, I arrived at my motel, quickly checked in and went to my room. There, on the desk, under a small table lamp, was the obligatory Gideon Bible. But this Bible was opened, to Psalm 34. After being reminded that my life's goal should be attaining to righteousness, that I should seek it as a thirsty man seeks a cold drink, as a beggar seeks a morsel of food to ease his pangs, God shows me this, which I will gladly quote with my emphases:



Psalm 34
Taste and See That the LORD Is Good



Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.



1I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.2My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. 3Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
4I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!9 Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! 10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. 11Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. 20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. 21Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.



God has called me to "change my behavior", to seek righteousness as the primary thing to be gained. He has reminded me that He is good! And he reminded me that as I seek righteousness, he will protect me, hear my cry, deliver me from troubles, and that His eyes will be toward me.

I'm not sure if Damascus and Guymon have any actual similarities, but as I read the Psalm in that motel room, something like scales fell from my eyes and my life changed.

2 Cor. 4:6: "For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Amen.