My GPS and My walk with God

Dan couldn’t wait to get me into a vehicle that had a navigation system.  I think he was tired of me calling him and crying for directions. And believe me those calls were always emotional…I was one step away from MAJOR MELTDOWN by the time I’ve called him.  He would begin with …”are you north or south of Peachtree”, “is 285 on your right or left,”, etc. etc.  Those questions just drove me crazy.  If I knew east, west, north, south, or where 285 is currently hiding out, I probably wouldn’t be calling him!!!!  He has learned through the years, NEVER tell me to turn west on Piedmont….east on 14th Street……I want simple directions like go .2 of a mile TURN RIGHT (forget north or south)….Go 3 more miles and turn left at the pinkhouse…..That’s my kind of directions.  DO NOT GIVE me a roadmap and expect me to find anything.  I love mapquest.  (I’ll admit they could leave off those first four or five directions because I am pretty sure I know how to get out of my own neighborhood!!!)  But its systematic, it tells me how far to go and when to turn and if I get it all screwed up, she will reroute me.  My Navi Lady and I have actually gotten very close.  She is like a therapist.  I can tell her anything and she always remains calm and in her never changing voice, she merely tells me to take the first legal U turn!  We don’t always speak the same dialect because when I tell her to display gas stations, she repeats, “call Sharon?” but at least she’s listening which is more than I can say for most of my passengers!!!  When I made a wrong turn, NaviLady, as I so lovingly call her, reminds me that I may be on uncharted road and the guidance system will resume (in layman’s terms)when it can figure where the heck you are!!!

Well often my walk with God is much the same way.  I pray desperately for guidance for God to show me how and what to do with my life.   I thoroughly believe if you are trying to follow God’s precepts, then the path you choose to take will be one that he will bless.  I haven’t had that blinding bolt of light that says “go to deepest darkest Africa” and love babies.  But I have definitely felt the call to do some meaningful volunteer work.  The Bible is quite clear.  We all have spiritual gifts.  I think I have unearthed mine and its time to put it to work.  BUT I know that just like my GPS reroutes me at times, so can God. He wants me in the place where I can be of the most service to Him.  He has a plan all laid out for me and I think in waiting to see the fine print, I have been dragging my legs.  So I am going to put my faith and trust in Gods’s GPS system.  If I am getting too far off course, I hope he will direct me to another road, another need, another ministry. He may send me on a complete U turn.  AND just so long as he talks to me in my lingo…turn left, look up, go next door, I’ll understand.  For too long I have sat here, hands open, palms upturned, praying that God will drop a pamphlet in my lap.  That’s not His ways. He will be my Navi Lady who will tell me when I am in uncharted waters, he will humble me when I think I am doing something great.  But most of all He wants me to be successful in my calling.  He will send me His trip. It might not be the one that “avoids expressways”, or “shortest route”. But this I believe, if I am reading my Bible, praying, trying to hear the still voice, a path will open for me.  I can only hope that I am open to listen….and ready to redirect.

The greatest ministries are not always those we plan, but rather the ones that interfere with our plans….Food for Thought!!!