Left turn ahead

Last night, a friend and I were driving around Kansas City, and thanks to his trusty GPS, we were able to find our way from his house to the place I was staying on the other side of the city. After being "rerouted" a few times, we got into a discussion on how God is not unlike a GPS system; that conversation has been swimming in my head ever since.

When it comes to dealing with the future, I have always been a worrier. It's not necessarily that I worry, but more that I am too reliant on order and organization. I like to know what I'll be doing, where I'll be doing it, and who I'll be doing it with. I like to plan, and for this reason, I have always struggled with putting my complete trust and reliance on God.

How does this tie in with a GPS? I'll tell you. Sometimes I think that my Tom-Tom is heaven-sent. It takes me exactly where I need to go, even when I have no idea where I'm headed. However, it takes the trip little by little. Sometimes, on long trips with lots of interstate traveling, it won't speak for hours, because I'm on a straight path, just where I need to be. This often scares me, because when it goes a long time without speaking, I fear that it's shut off or that something has gone technologically wrong. However, as soon as I need to turn onto a new road or take a new exit, it tells me in just the right amount of time.

For example, my GPS won't tell me to take action until I need to. It won't say, "turn left in 20 miles," because that would just be ridiculous, and would make me even more confused for showing me what was ahead before I was ready for it. When the time comes, though, in it's sweet British voice, it reassuringly speaks, "left turn ahead." In the same way, God doesn't show us what our life will be like in 10 years, because what will be important 10 years from now isn't important at this very moment. When the time comes, he'll tell us what action to take, but not until the time is right. When God seems to be silent about the future, perhaps it is because the road we are on now is the one we need to be on. Eventually, we will take new roads, but until then, we stay on the one we're currently traveling.

I don't know how many times I've taken wrong turns and gotten completely lost. However, each time I do, my Tom-Tom tells me to "turn around when possible." If I stubbornly refuse to do so, it then reroutes itself so that I can get back on the right track from the point that I have landed myself, no matter how far off track it may be. Lots of times, I worry that one wrong decision will completely put God's plan out of whack. How selfish is that? Do I really think that God is that simple? That he doesn't have the power to put me back of track, no matter how many wrong turns I've taken? God will always find me where I am. He will always reroute me back to where he wants me to be.

Why are GPS systems so much more reliable than me? (Well, other than the fact that I am horrible with directions?) Because they have a satellite signal from above. They see the whole when I can only see parts. I can only see what's happening in the present, and yet God knows my entire life story--past, present, and future. I don't need to see what's coming, because He does. He will tell me what I need to know, when I need to know it...but only in HIS timing, his perfect timing.

Anyone who even knows me well knows that I get lost very easily. Without my GPS, I'd probably be stuck somewhere in Canada right now. In the same way, I don't even want to think of where I would be without God's guidance and directions. Without his global positioning, I would truly be lost.

Trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; seek his will in all that you do, and he will show you which paths to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6

'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.'
Jeremiah 29:11