Where Do We Go From Here

Psalms 119:59  "I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your laws.  I will hurry, without delay, to obey your commands. "

There is this really funny commercial on these days for an insurance company.  The idea behind it is that the guy plays the part of "mayhem" and he shows you what happens when you don't pay attention to details while driving or  having homeowner issues.  It makes us all laugh when we see it.  The latest one is the "mayhem" guy pretending to be the voice of the gps.  At the last second he screams  "turn here!".  The gentleman behind the wheel who is trying desperately to figure out where to go, turns sharply and chaos ensues.  While there is humor in the commercial part, there is an underlying truth in the message.  Also, in my opinion, it's very strong evidence why we don't need gps's in the cars.  It is well known by my family that I absolutely loathe that little box on the dash.  More often than not, I have been sent down into the wrong road by that ridiculous box and it's obnoxious voice.

Last week I started this year's women's bible study at our church.  You can choose one of five different things to study.  I picked the one I thought sounded the best and signed up for it.  Even at the time I was filling out the form, I could hear the Spirit whispering to me that I had chosen the wrong class.  However, I decided that the voice must have been the bad coffee I had that morning.  Thus, I ignored it.  For two weeks, I heard the voice whispering "when possible, make a legal u turn".  I continued to ignore it.  On the last night, just before leaving for the class, God got tired of whispering and turned up the volume.  It came through in surround sound.  I heard it loud and clear.  I promptly sent off an email and made a "legal u turn".  When I got to the class, I found that I was right where I needed to be, taking the class I needed to take, surrounded by ladies I needed to be with, and sitting next to people I wanted to see again.  God knew the directions, I just didn't listen to the voice.  Thus, chaos ensued.

God gives me all the things I need to make it down the road I am on.  He gives me a map, a gps with a helpful voice that guides and directs me, and light that shines bright even on the darkest of nights.  The thing I keep forgetting is that those items are useless if I keep them on a shelf in my room.  I must take them out and use them every day.  I must keep the gps charged and on full volume so that I can hear the Spirit's voice when I am surrounded by teh noise of the world.  I must have that light burning brightly in my heart so that those in need can see their way along with me.  I must take the map out every day and follow the directions to get where I need to go.  My Abba doesn't expect me to sit at home every day, worrying that I might get in an accident or have "mayhem" in my life.  He expects me to use that map, that gps, and that light to go out and make the best of this life He has given me. 

Personally, I like my Abba's gps much better than the one in the car.  The voice is so much softer and easier to listen to.  The directions are much clearer.  It never waits until the last minute to tell me where to turn.  I can know without a doubt that it will never get me lost like that one time in DC when sweetheart used some decidedly bad comments about the car gps and the direction that it took us.  But I digress.  In this daily walk of mine, I am easily distracted by the world and the side trips that are available to me.  I find myself wandering off the path and soon I am lost in some pretty worldly neighborhoods. It is then that I remember to turn on my gps and get back on the straight and narrow.  The most wonderful thing about that gps is that no matter what, no matter when, no matter how many times I set it aside, the moment I need it, it powers right up and the directions come.  Sometimes they are in the words of a song, sometimes in the sermon from my pastor, sometimes in the laughter of a women's bible study, and sometimes from the smile of a friend. Most of the time it's the words on the page of the map He has given me.  The nicest thing is that I am guaranteed that no mayhem or chaos will result from listening to the voice in my heavenly gps.