When People Believe in False Gods

In the shower this morning, praying before a more than 600 mile journey, I felt God nudging me to think about this question: "Is there a difference between scoffers who believe there is no god and people who believe in the wrong god?" I believe there is and that Noel and I are going to experience that today. We are in Amarillo, Texas having traveled since Friday. By the end of today, we have reservations in Moab, Utah to tour the national parks there this week. That is a long, long day. I let AI lay out this trip, a southern route in and a northern route back (to see Joey). Today feels like an AI mistake in every way. We traveled 600 miles yesterday on I-40 and it took us 9 hours. Today is predicted to be more than that. Maybe quite a bit more, because we leave the interstate and travel through Navajo Nation for over half of New Mexico. But when I was tossing and turning last night about making it through today, God reminded me that He is the One who guides and protects us, even when we make mistakes. He does not stop loving us then.

And He reminded me that the slower part of the trip, through Dine Bikeyeh, as the Navajo people call their ancestral lands, is through some of the most beautiful country on earth (we traveled part of it two years ago). It is desert that has been loved by the Navajo people for at least a couple of thousand years. You will hear about this people next Sunday for Missions Emphasis Month. I worked for several years with a lovely lady named Lexi who grew up in Dine Bikeyeh. Since we often showed up earlier than anyone else in the office and sat across the aisle from each other, we would chat about work issues as we caught up on our emails. Several times that led to some true gospel conversations (please pray for Lexi--she is still not saved). People can be intensely spiritual and still believe in a false god. That is what Dine Bikeyeh feels like to me. A very spiritual, well-loved land crying out for the name of the Unknown God, as Paul would have put it. It actually feels very safe, as the tribal police patrol it constantly. If I remember it that way, today looks like it will be a great day!