GPS

The other week I was returning home from our beach place. I had decided to stop by our son’s apartment and drop off some items to him. Curbside drop off/ pick up if you will.

While his apartment is not too far off the highway, it usually takes a while due to heavy traffic congestion in the Metropolitan NY area. Not so last week. There were hardly any cars on the road and so my trip was quite uneventful.

Except that the GPS gave me different directions to go. I guess the GPS determines the fastest route. In this case the GPS instructed me to go through the Lincoln Tunnel. Usually I avoid that at all costs: stop and go traffic, potential for rear-endings, pressure of cars going every which way on the city streets and having to quickly navigate turns. In the past there was no way I would go through NYC during the middle of the day. But, it really is the shortest route and without all the cars, the quickest. So I thought, now is the time to see how quick it would be.

The thing with the GPS, it only gives one direction at a time. For example, “turn right in 200 feet…” For a person who likes to see the big and overall picture, it can be a little unnerving. Usually if someone else is in the car, I will ask, “How many exits before ours? How many streets until the next turn?” I can ask for alternative suggestions, “What’s the traffic like- can we can turn down this side street to avoid that traffic light?” I just do not want to be caught unprepared.

With no one else in the car except for the GPS, I had to trust the direction it was giving me. I couldn’t look beyond the few turns that I had to make. Either I trusted the information I received or I went “off map” and risked the possibility of getting incredibly lost- losing time and potentially money (if I crossed the Hudson a couple of times).

What a timely reminder to me about trust in these days of uncertainty.

The Bible says, ”Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. God gives us directions on how to traverse. His words are the guidance on how to step and where to go. Because the words in the Bible are from a living God, they are true and applicable today as they were when first uttered.

If you have ever used a lamp, candle or flashlight to get around in the dark, you may have noticed that if you are using it to illuminate your steps, you can only see so far in front of you. You have to take one step at a time and concentrate on those steps. You can wave the flashlight in front of you to see ahead but usually that doesn’t provide any guidance and can potentially trip you up as there is no light for the immediate next steps.

We have little solar lights on the side of our outside steps leading from one area of the backyard to another. They only illuminate the steps and not any other larger swath of garden. It is just enough to see in front of me by a couple of steps. But if the solar charger is blocked- by either plant overgrowth, cloudy day or faulty battery, I do not get any appreciable light. It all depends on the source (strong sunlight and rechargeable batteries) for the power.

As we travel through life, we have to be discerning about who is guiding us, what is being told us, where it is leading, how we are to proceed and why we choose to go the way we go.

I have decided to be guided by God, His promptings, leadings and His plan and purpose for my journey. I trust (and obey) the path that God has laid. I cannot get too focused on the future, wondering or worrying about what lies ahead. I need to stay focused on my immediate steps. And while I may wonder about the condition of the path at times (too bumpy, rugged or hard) I know that if I stay on His path, I will be headed in the right direction.

It is when I decide to go “off-track” is when I have difficulty. When I decide that I do not need a guide or any guidance about my life is when I find myself wasting time and resources, similarly to my not wanting to listen to the GPS.

In being guided on my life journey by God through the Bible and prayer, I also need to take care that I do not allow my light source to be overshadowed by something that will block that guidance. How easy it is for the time constraints of life to envelope my daily Bible reading or prayer time, much like the Bishop’s week ground cover is creeping over my solar lights. For my lights to work effectively, I need to be vigilant and prune around the lights. So too, in my spiritual life, I may find that there are times when I have to scale back on activities that do not allow me enough time to keep plugged to the source.

It is a daily decision and struggle to stay plugged to the source, to not look too far ahead and to trust that each step and turn is where God is leading.

What about you? Where do you receive your life’s guidance and direction? What/Who is your life’s GPS?