Photo Credit: Himesh Kumar Behera.
I think the Global Positioning System (GPS) is one of man’s greatest inventions. No more calling someone to ask for directions to their home; usually you get lost a couple of times because they left out one of the turns. No more trying to read a road map or even printing out MapQuest directions and attempting to read them while driving. One of the downsides to the GPS is that we don’t always trust it, especially when we’re traveling to a somewhat familiar location.
Without fail, when my husband and I are traveling to New York from home he asks “why is the GPS directing me this way when that sign over there says New York?”. And my answer is always the same, “I believe the GPS is taking us along a shorter route”. But he says it always throws him off when he gets to that particular fork in the road. I think one of these days he’s going to ignore the GPS and follow that sign he keeps questioning. It will get him to his destination, but it will take much longer.
Like a vehicle with a built-in GPS, God has equipped each of us with our very own Global Positioning System. God says in Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) that He has plans for us that include peace and a hopeful future. The Bible even indicates that He knows us in utero, but more than that He knows us even before we get to the womb (Psalms 139:16, Jeremiah 1:5). That blows my mind. God pays such attention to detail and has mapped out a destiny for each one of us. I call this our spiritual GPS. That is God’s plan and desire for our lives, but He loves us so much He created us with a free will, the ability to choose even if that choice is antithetical to the life road map He has planned for us. He wants us to choose Him and His plan out of love and obedience and not out of fear and obligation.
We can certainly ignore God’s directions take a different path than the one He lays before us. But we run the risk of getting lost and either being delayed in reaching our destination or getting so far off track we never find our way back to the right path before the end of our days. God is Omniscient and His love for us is greater than we can imagine. So, if He gives you directions or takes you down a path that doesn’t seem to make sense and you think you know a better way, just trust Him, ignore all other signs and follow your GPS.
THROUGH THE STORM 