Sunday Scribblings: Instructions

Today’s Sunday Scribbling topic is instructions.

I guess this is going to be more of a confession than an inspired post. I like knowing that I have access to the instructions, but I don’t like to study instructions. I have friends who will look for, download, and study manuals for different gadgets and electronics. I don’t. I am the type of person whose first instinct is to look at the final product and then rely on my gut feeling.

I know, I know. This is dangerous.

I do, however, want instructions within reach. A few weeks back, I was tasked to put together a TV stand. The box contained unassembled parts, but did not include instructions. I was shown what the finished product should be like from the photo on Tokopedia (US friends, think Amazon. Sort of). I felt like I was floundering. Granted, if I had had access to the instructions, I might have glanced at it once and then go on and assemble by gut-feeling. But at least I have it.

I like IKEA instructions. With the happy shapeless person showing you what needs to be done without words. (I only assume the person is happy. I can't really tell to be honest.) The IKEA instruction books offer the perfect amount of distance, while still giving me the ability to decipher what to do to get the bookshelf or dresser I desire.

This is probably why I like cooking more than baking. Baking require precision and commitment to instructions. Cooking is an art form. (Bakers, don’t kill me.) I just need to know the big picture of how to make something and figure out ingredients and then I can just follow my gut.

I’m not so sure. Is this a bad thing?

The only time I'm a stickler with instructions is if I'm following Google Maps' directions on how to get from one place to another. But even then, now to think of it, I know in the back of my mind that if I don't follow the device's instructions, it'll recalculate.

Hmm.. Curiouser and curiouser. Sorry, friends. I'm having a bit of a self reflection moment here.

Being who I am as a follower of Christ, I can’t help asking myself if my casual attitude towards instructions translate into the same casual attitude towards the Bible. That’s actually a pretty scary thought.

But then I had a little bit of a revelation. Actually, the revelation came a tad gradually. Our leadership team at church has been reading through The Bible Tells Me So. That book has been enlightening and, at the same time, freeing. The Bible is less of an instructions manual on life and more of a journal on how interested God is in being in relationship with us. It's an invitation on how God wants to meet me where I am and interact with me. And through this interaction, my life gets changed one day at a time.

I can tell you more about it, but - as I said - I'm still learning. And often times I fall into the mind trap that the Bible is an instruction manual that I need to make sure my life turns out the way God wants. But if I'm completely honest, thinking of the Bible as an instruction manual or a baking recipe is less about me wanting to please God and more about me wanting to have control - sometimes without even having God in the mix. The Bible, I'm learning, is less of an instruction manual and more of one of the devices I use to communicate with a loved one. I consult it often and am almost never without it because I want to be reachable by those closest to me. I want to be able to easily communicate to them too!

Sorry I went on a tangent. How about you, friends? What do you do with instructions?