Proverbs 3: 5-6
Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight.
Which GPS will you follow? The GPS on the dash or the God Positioning System? I guess it depends on whether you are thinking about the short term or long term destination. If you want to know how to get to Westville for a meeting, you can use the one on the dash. However, if you want to get to health, happiness, prosperity and a sense of accomplishment, you want to go with God.
Proverbs tells us that God is the true source of wisdom and understanding. We cannot trust our own instincts or knowledge to lead us to our destiny. In fact, you cannot put “destiny” into the GPS and expect it to take you anywhere. It does not know the destiny God has planned for you.
I was heading to Westville, NJ to attend a Work as Worship conference. I had an idea where it was because I looked it up on Google maps to see how long the trip would take. As I was leaving my street, the GPS told me to turn left and I, of course, turned right. Men don’t follow directions well. Recalculating! Someday it is going to scream at me saying “you never listen to me!” Since I was in familiar surroundings, I decided on the way I should go and leaned on my own understanding. But when we got to South Jersey, I had no idea which way to go. I had to trust the GPS to get me to my destination. I had to lean on the device made and programmed to get me to my destination, the Work as Worship conference. If I had made the turns I thought were best, I might not have made it to the conference.
Isn’t life like that too? When you are in familiar territory, often you know the best way to go. Most of us stay in familiar territory. But what if God wants to do a new thing and take us somewhere different? Most of us don’t like change. We become anxious. We want to resist anything new and different. What if we go the wrong way? What if there were a GPS that could guide us through those uncharted waters? There is! The God Positioning System, our Lord, will guide us into the new things He has in store for us. He has awesome plans for each of his children. His plan is not for you to be ill, addicted, broke, stuck and in debt. It is just the opposite. He wants the best for you. You are His masterpiece; fearfully and wonderfully made! But you must trust Him.
Trust the GPS when you don’t know where you are going. It speaks clearly. Turn right in 0.2 miles! God’s voice is not so clear. How do I know what God is saying? How can I hear His voice? It is true that God’s voice can be a gentle whisper. It often is. For me, God reveals Himself through my subconscious mind most of the time. Although, He did speak to me once when I was in Honduras. He asked me to “trust Him”. But most often, I get a sense of peace about something and will be led to a Scripture verse that confirms the thought I am having. Many times, I formulate a plan after praying for guidance and then put I in my Bible. I ask God if He has changes He wants to make to the plan. If I don’t hear anything and still have a peace about it, I go ahead after a few days. It is always better to ask for God’s input in your plans than deciding on your own and asking Him to bless what you have decided. Trust Him to get you to the right destination; the destination He has planned for you. It will always be better.
Lord, thank You that Your wisdom and guidance are always available to us if we just ask! Be with us on our journey and give us Your peace when we enter unfamiliar territory. Thank You that You have awesome plans for us that will bless us beyond all we could ask or imagine. In your name we pray!