Have you ever been driving with a map you picked up at a gas station or map quest printout in hand, and found yourself lost when you made the wrong turn or reached an unexpected detour?
After you pulled over your vehicle, you started straightening out the map, walking your fingers over the map looking for an alternate route. Or you started reading the map quest printout to see what you missed, where you went wrong. If you used GPS or consulted Google Maps, you still would not have been 100% certain of reaching your destination.
He Guides Our Christian Walk
Good thing we have God’s GPS to help us in our Christian walk, God’s Positioning System or God’s Purposing System. Thank God for his GPS. It’s 100% guaranteed. It tells us exactly where we are in our Christian walk as his sons and daughters, our position, and where we should be going, our purpose. He keeps us on the straight and narrow path if we follow the directions he gives us in his Word, through others, and in our prayer life.
God’s GPS keeps us on the straight and narrow path.
Too bad Adam and Eve didn’t have God’s GPS and the ability to go before the Lord for directions. But didn’t God give them directions? After all, they knew where they were and didn’t have to go anywhere, did they? And God was very direct about what he expected of them.
Adam and Eve Lost Their Way
In Genesis, we read about how God saw Adam needed a partner. He created Eve to meet that need. Adam and Eve were exactly where God wanted them to be and they knew their purpose. Then what does Adam do? Like a typical man who never asks for directions, he listens to Eve instead of listening to God. He disobeys God.
The result? Adam and Eve are lost, banished from the Garden because Adam made the wrong decision. He made a wrong turn. He turned away from God in disobedience when he bit into the apple from the Tree of Knowledge.
We Also Get Lost
We too make wrong decisions. We too take wrong turns. We too disobey God. How do we keep on track in doing what God wants us to do, in being the person God wants us to be?
Through his Word, through other people, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, God helps us navigate our way through life, overcoming obstacles, avoiding distractions, making the right turns, making good decisions, and reversing negative thinking. We have to tap into his GPS system. He will not lead us astray.
This is why I tell my life coaching clients that even though we explore who they are and discover their God-given purpose during our sessions, the exact path getting there and accomplishing that purpose is subject to change and is in God’s hands.
Additional reading:
Listen to God’s Words
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)
To shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace. (Luke 1:79)
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)
Also read: Psalm 32:8, Psalm 37:23, Isaiah 48:17
In the Words of Others
“God’s guidance is almost always step-by-step. He does not show us our life’s plan all at once. Sometimes our anxiousness to know the will of God comes from a desire to peer over God’s shoulder to see what His plan is. What we need to do is learn to trust Him to guide us.” Jerry Bridges
“A God wise enough to create me and the world is wise enough to watch out for me.” Philip Yancey
Think About It
Have you ever felt lost, uncertain about where you were heading in life? If so, to whom did you turn for direction?
What do you do when making a major decision or you’re facing challenges, unsure of where to turn? To whom or to what do you turn for direction?
Has prayer, God’s Word, and time spent with him been part of your daily routine? Describe the difference it makes.
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