G.P.S. = God’s Positioning System

Today I learned a valuable lesson. God is like a G.P.S. (Global Positioning System).

A new friend of mine, Jon Gordon, mentioned this a couple of weeks ago. I liked the analogy at the time because it makes more sense than the old cliches “God is my pilot.” or “God is my co-pilot.” Neither seemed to ring true. If God was my pilot or co-pilot, then why have I found myself unsure where to go, gotten lost so many times, or even gone the wrong way at all?

This morning I was driving from Cincinnati, OH to Campbellsville, KY to speak at a chapel service with no room for error. The service started at 10am and my G.P.S. predicted I would arrive at 9:54 a.m.. I departed the airport in my rental car with snow on the ground (but not on the roads) only to hear reports of school closings on the radio in Lexington, a city on my way to my destination.

Suddenly, something worse than the inclement weather happened. The arrow which guides my path on my G.P.S. stopped moving and even ended halfway up my screen. It appeared I was about to drive into the oblivion. I was in such a remote part of the planet, that I was about to go beyond the reach of even satellites! Suddenly, I felt like one of the castaways on Lost. I was somewhere where no one could find me. This feeling sunk in even more as I discovered I had weak and then no reception on my cell phone.

Sometimes in life, it is clear as an arrow on a screen which way to go. Other times, we seem to journey without any specific guidance at all. As I wandered without direction, I decided to just keep going in the direction I last heard I should go.

When in doubt, we should do what we know we should do: love God and love people (Mt. 22:34-40). As we delight ourselves in God, He changes our desires from selfish to selfless (Psalm 37:4).

The real beauty of a G.P.S. remains when we do wander off the path, there is always a new route back to our destiny, if we are willing to take it.

By the way, I made it to my destination at 9:35 a.m.. 🙂