Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Direction

The other night I was driving to meet up with a friend to get some buffalo wings. I was going to a place that I had been to many times before, but this time I decided to use my GPS system to get there. As I was driving, the GPS was telling me to go a route that I had never taken before. I started talking to my GPS system because thats what I do when i am driving alone. I was telling it how stupid it was because there was a way better way to go and that there was no reason for me to go in the direction that it was telling me to go. So, to prove my point to my GPS system, I decided that I would just follow the route that it was taking me so I could tell it how dumb it was for taking me that route. In the end, it was a way better route than what I had taken before.



Warning (mainly for Nate): This blog is about to get a bit on the religious and spiritual side. I think my blogs will mainly be like that from now on.



So, what is the point of my story?

There are many things that we know in life. In this situation, I knew where I was coming from. Home. I knew where I wanted to end up. Buffalo wings. I knew a way to get there. Longer stupid route. What I didnt know at the time was that there was a better route. The way that I had to find that out was to put my trust in the GPS system.

Here's what I know about my life. I know where I started. Birth. I know where I want to end up. Heaven. I know that there are many paths that I can take to reach that goal, but what I really have to understand is that God has a planned route for me. He has set the best course for me to take, but He also knows that I can still choose to take a detour as well or go my own way. So what does this mean? It means that for me to take the best route, which is God's route. I need to surrender myself to His plan. I have to tell myself that it doesnt matter which way I want to go, it's more of which way He wants me to go.

I've been wanting to write about this for awhile now, but it wasn't until tonight that I had the inspiration to write it out. Here is a passage from the book that I am reading, "God's Gonna Make You Laugh":

"If you were to have a map, you would never listen for the voice of the Lord. But without a map you will be inclined to follow only His directions, listen only to His instructions, and heed only His voice. Without a map, you have no other method of knowing how to get where you are going other than to listen to Him. The whole idea is that God is determined to get you in a place where you fully rely on Him. Any any other voice but His, you'll block out, knowing that additional voices will only bring gross confusion, causing you to travel in endless circles, making no real progress toward His intended goal for you."



Sometimes we find ourselves at a point in our lives where we dont know what to do. We are pressured to be successful by the standards set by society and to live up to the expectations of those who we associate ourselves with. One thing that we can do in this situation is to find a place of solitude and silence. Take some time to reflect on where we have come, what we have been through, and where we want to be. Take all that, plug it in, and let GPS "God's Planned Sacrifice" lead the way.