I was recently on a road trip and, thanks to the Department of Transportation signs that randomly pop up to give drivers a heads up on construction or accident delays, I was alerted to the fact that there was a situation ahead that would warrant my taking an alternate route. This would not be a problem if I had been on my home turf, but I was instead a few hours away and had no idea where that alternate route might be.
Thankfully, I had very recently jumped into the age of smartphones and had access to a GPS. As I looked at the map of the road ahead, it confirmed in red that there was indeed a situation ahead. More than confirming the delay, it also showed me all the roads in the area, and I was able to identify an alternate route. Within just a few minutes, I had navigated my way around the delay by way of small, two-lane, curvy roads that got me back onto the highway on the other side of the delay and I continued on my way.
While on the detour, I was struck by the fact that even though off of the familiar, I had a great amount of peace and confidence in the path I was taking simply because of this small device that I held in my hand. The GPS knew the area that I did not know. The GPS could see what I could not see. The GPS provided me with information and confidence to trust that it would get me where I needed to be.
Sounds a little bit like an analogy (although quite inadequate) for God. He knows the area that we do not know. He sees the bigger picture. There are times when we get stuck and get focused on the path that we know when God sees that there is a better way, and He would lead us there if we would let Him.
When I was on the main road, I did not even think about that GPS. I knew where I was going and I knew how to get there. The minute I saw the sign for the delay ahead, I reached for it and relied on it to give me what I needed to get around it.
Dr. Bruce Wilkinson, the author of “The Prayer of Jabez” said in a seminar I attended years ago that, “God lives outside of our comfort zones.” If we are comfortable and in the familiar, we often forget to connect with Him, but when we are off the beaten path, and in the unfamiliar, it is there that we rely on Him most.
Do we trust God to get us where He knows it is best that we be? Do we believe that He knows more than we do and can see more than we can see? Do we step out into the uncomfortable that He calls us to knowing that He is in those uncomfortable places waiting to meet us there and to carry us through?
“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” Jeremiah 29:11 MSG
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9 NIV
