Last weekend, I went to a conference in Richmond, Virginia. I can’t remember the last time I had to drive through Northern Virginia traffic, but it had to be one of the worst driving experiences I’ve ever had. Between the massive traffic congestion, the construction, and the unfamiliar roads, I was a wreck when I arrived at my destination. A big part of my stress was caused by my need to continually having to follow the Mapquest directions. They’re great on the open road, or when you are only going to be on a couple of different roads, but it seemed like every five minutes, I had to get onto another highway. Ugh.
This morning, I jumped onto Walmart’s website, and low and behold, there were several different GPS systems on sale. I had never considered buying a system before, mainly because I thought that, in addition to the purchase price, there were monthly fees as well. Someone mentioned this to me over the weekend, and I was amazed that you can still get something for nothing (it probably won’t last too much longer).
Well, I picked up a nifty little unit today, and I am pleasantly surprised at its simplicity. I can’t wait to try it out on my next adventure. I’ll be able to focus on my driving, rather than my driving and the directions. That’s probably a good thing for everyone 🙂
Of course, all this got me thinking. So many people today have lost their way. Whether physically or spiritually, they just don’t know where to turn. Some will never make it to their desired destination. The sad thing is, it didn’t have to be that way.
No matter how lost we think we are, there’s lots of things we can do to find our way, so we can arrive safely and happily to our final destination.
First, for the physical piece, we have to take care of ourselves. No more detouring through the fast-food lines. When we fill up our tanks, it should always be with premium, not that cheap stuff that keeps us from running efficiently.
From time to time, we have to get off at the exit that will lead to our doctor’s office, to ensure that we’re sticking to the roadmap he/she laid out for us (or maybe we set for ourselves). If we’ve deviated, then they’ll help us find our way back.
For the spiritual piece, there are plenty of ways to keep ourselves on the right road. God is like the perfect GPS system. He’s always pointing out the right way for us. Unfortunately, most of us get off on the many exits that lead away from Him. Maybe we get distracted, or it could be that we’re stubborn and think we know a better, quicker way. Sometimes, we don’t get to where we want to go because we’ve keyed in the wrong address. A quick re-set makes all the difference.
I was talking to one of my friends at work today, and she uses GPS all the time. She told me that, if you stop following the directions and go too far, the little voice will help you turn around and find your way back to the right path that will take you to where you want to go. Sounds a bit like the Holy Spirit 🙂
I wish staying on track physically and spiritually were as easy as plugging in my new GPS and turning it on. No, trying to consistently in the right direction in these areas requires a lot of work. Hard work. But if we follow the directions and listen to the Voice leading us, telling us which way to go, we’ll arrive safe and sound when our long journey comes to an end.
