GPS

the theme for our weekend at regent seemed to run along the lines of listening for God's discerning voice. it makes perfect sense considering that the audience was a group of (mostly) young adults facing serious career decisions. but nonetheless i felt many times as though the speakers were talking directly to me even as they stood in front of a crowded room full of people.

one particularly poignant devotional given at the start of our saturday morning: the speaker was a woman who had an amazing list of credentials (encouraging in and of itself) and the man who introduced her promised that she always preached a timely word. he was right. she began by giving us a list of Biblical methods, if you will, of following God's will in decision-making. These were all based on the book of Acts. Some included direct communication from God (if only we were all so fortunate...or could open our ears and eyes a little wider), the prophetic word, a door opening or a door closing, and so on. I appreciated this list, and hope I can recall it as I move forward.

But her words that really spoke to my heart were not about discerning God's voice, but trusting God's voice. Our speaker pulled out a GPS that she had borrowed from a friend--the kind you stick on your dash in the car. She related a time when she had used the GPS to travel to visit an ailing relative. Not owning one herself, it was the first time she used it. The night before her trip, she felt the need to additionally print out directions from mapquest in order to know each step and where she was going. We all laughed, and as she asked, "who else of you would do the same thing?" I immediately identified with this action and knew I would want the same assurance. She told us how our husband chastised her for not trusting the reliability on the GPS. Instantly, of course, her point became clear: God is our GPS!He knows the whole network of highways and back roads and shortcuts and detours--how to get us to our end destinations and what paths we'll take along the way. And yet I scramble around trying to find directions for each step of the journey, needing to know for myself which way I'm going.

Where is my faith?? Why don't I trust that He knows where He's taking me? He knows the route, He knows the destination, He knows the stops, the detours, and the road blocks (all of which I've already experienced several times). And yet I fail to trust Him. What a convicting word she spoke to my heart!

This is a time of grave importance in my life. A time where God is quietly whispering to my heart, leading me, in His own time, where I need to go next. I took a big fat wrong turn this summer, but I now know it was part of God's roadmap. There was something to learn down that misstep. And now I'm at a crossroads, caught between desperately listening for and seeking out the will of God and still straining to find the directions for myself.

I'm learning, too, that it's okay to outright ask God what He wants of me. He may not answer in the way I'm expected or He may not answer right away. But in Jeremiah 33:3 He promises, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." God alone knows the unsearchable. If only we could fathom the true value of prayer, and meet Him boldly in that place.