When I drive to Indianapolis to see my daughter and her family I take Route 31 which starts in Michigan and goes all the way down to Indy and beyond. It used to take you through some little towns with speed traps ( So I’ve heard?) and stop signs–not a fast efficient highway. It also took you through Kokomo, IN that had tons of stop lights. If you hit most of them, which happened quite often, you definitely added time to your trip. I am happy to say that the new bypass on 31 has opened which takes you around those places mentioned above. The Indianapolis area also has improved 31 making it a more pleasant drive. My GPS helps me navigate but the new roads are not on my current version. It is constantly telling me that is is rerouting me but the roads it wants to take me on don’t exist.
One day the Lord told Abraham to leave his country, his relatives, and his father’s house, and go to the land God would show him. (Genesis 2:1-9). He and his wife, Sarah, went without knowing where they were going. Abraham took God at His word and went with faith, trusting God as the navigator.
Neal and I had an “Abraham and Sarah” type of experience. We felt God was telling us to leave our church of 18 years and step out on faith not knowing what or where God was calling us. God brought a couple other couples into our lives that had a similar vision to start a different kind of church. We started meeting together every week for bible study and prayer seeking God’s direction. Three years later, we started a new church in our area. God is still blessing that ministry. Neal and I often said that we were afraid if we hadn’t stepped out on faith, God would not have blessed our lives.
It was by faith that the people of Israel were led by Moses right through the Red Sea on dry ground. But when the Egyptians followed, they all drowned (Hebrews 11:29). The children of Israel were then led through the wilderness on a day-by-day basis. God provided a cloud by day to lead them and a pillar of fire at night. When it moved, they moved. When it stopped, they stopped and set up camp. Sometimes the cloud stayed only for one day and other times it stayed put for a while. But when it lifted, the Israelites broke camp and followed. They never knew for sure where it was taking them, but they trusted that God would bring to the Promised Land as He had said. They did complain some along the way because the way was hard and took a long time. God eventually did bring them to the Promised Land some 40 years later. (Exodus 14-17). If God had told them all the details at the start they may not have wanted to follow. No water and crummy food, 40 years of wandering in a desert, sleeping on the ground. Doesn’t sound like a fun time.
We want God to show us the whole map of our life, what is up ahead. He gives us one step at a time. Just what we need for the moment. If God showed us the whole plan, we may not like it, may not be what we had planned or think it is too difficult.
Last fall, a couple of my girlfriends and I drove down to Branson, MO for a vacation. The car I had at that time did not come with GPS. My portable GPS wasn’t very reliable so we used my phone for the directions. That proved to be just as unreliable because it got us lost once we were in Branson. We drove around and around until we finally stopped and asked for directions at a gas station like the “old days!”
God leads us one step at a time. We don’t always see the bigger picture and have no idea what’s ahead. The life of faith involves following God’s directions one step at a time. “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives,” Psalm 37:23. If you skip a direction you get lost and have to be rerouted. We put faith in our GPS that it is going to take us to our destination. We put in the address of where we are going and the GPS calculates the steps to take us to the final destination. For Christ followers our final destination is not here on earth. It is in heaven with the Lord God Almighty. He directs our steps. We try to be our own GPS but God directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9).
Lord, may we follow your directions and trust in Your directions.
On the journey,
Trish