Driving Directions

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.  Psalm 119:105  NLT

For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,  Proverbs 6:23  NIV 1984

     Where would we be without MapQuest or GoogleMaps or YahooMaps?  Sitting by the side of the road, trying to refold a huge and unruly piece of paper, is the most likely answer.  

     I went to a conference in Chicago earlier this week.  I had been once before and had some idea of where I was going.  But, I do not have a good sense of direction and it is hard when you are in downtown Chicago and all you can see are buildings to know that the Lake is east and that's the way you need to go.  

     Don't get me wrong.  I have driven Lake Shore Drive many times and the building I was headed for was on the corner of Lake Shore Drive and Chicago Avenue.  Not too hard to remember or find.  But because I doubt myself and the assigned parking garage was two blocks away, I went to one of the map websites to get directions for every step of my journey.

     The map took me into Chicago a slightly different way than I am used to going; but, I did not want to stray from my directions lest I become totally lost.  At one point, I was to merge from I90 onto I55 North.  The directions said to take the left fork.  But when I got to the place where I was to merge, I55 North was the RIGHT fork, not the left.  And there was no time to think.  I decided to go to the right and soon realized  I had gone the wrong way.  Whenever I'm traveling, I always allow for time to get lost, so, I still made it to my conference in plenty of time; but that was in spite of the map, not because of it.

     You know where this is going.  We are given a map in God's Word to follow for our lives.  If we stray from the map, we might find ourselves lost in darkness.  God's word helps us to see clearly the issues of life and helps us to make decisions that are pleasing to God.

     I was able to make my conference because I was already familiar with the city.  Become familiar with God's Word.  That way, when you inadvertently stray from the path, you will be able to rely on what you already know to guide you back to the light.