GPS (God's Protection System)

My oldest sister, Sheryl, is coming for a visit! I have been looking forward to her coming. She is working very hard these days as she has a high-responsibility job at a university; plus, she is working on her PhD. So, she has taken some much needed time off and is coming for a visit today.

Before coming here, she ran out to Georgia to see her daughter who lives in a rural community (a.k.a. the sticks) north of Atlanta. I asked her about her trip out there. Sheryl had told me earlier that she had purchased one of those GPS systems for her car that tells you, not only how to get from point "A" to point "B," but also tells when there are traffic issues ahead and how to route around them. She explained that she hadn't quite figured it all out and on her trip she ran into a lot of construction, traffic jams, etc. that prevented her arriving being earlier. I told her it would be wise to get it set so it would help her avoid that stuff when she headed this way.

When I spoke with her this morning, I asked whether she got it working for her. She said it was. Then I asked what she had to do adjust, and she told me, "my attitude." She went on to explain that it had been working right, she just didn't trust it. She placed her faith in it this morning; and lo and behold, it worked and she was able to avoid some traffic jams. Hmmm. I told her that sounded like a good spiritual lesson. She agreed.

She had called while I was spending time in the Word, when we were done talking, I got back to it. In typical fashion, God's Word was very appropriate this morning... what a "coincident!" I am working through the Gospel of John and was in chapter 12 this morning. Following the triumphant entry into Jerusalem on the donkey, verses 35-36 had this to say, "So Jesus said to them, 'For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.'" This is a lesson that God has been teaching me lately. So often, I am heading in a direction in life and want to stay on the straight and narrow, but sometimes life's path gets rocky, and I gets scared, but God's Word tells me to trust and obey. But oftentimes, I don't trust Him, and try to go my own way. Consequently, things end up a big mess. Had I listened to God's GPS, I would have been protected from a lot of pain.

God's Word is always true and will always guide us in the paths around destruction. It is not because God doesn't want us to have fun, but rather He knows what is best, as He has a much broader perspective. I was reminded of a famialiar Proverb that also speaks this very issue, "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." (14:12) At times we don't understand God's directions, but we need to follow our GPS, He loves us and He always knows the best way!