The Navigator

When my husband and I travel out of town by car, I usually take on the role of navigator. Although we often rely on GPS, I provide a heads-up before the annoying voice from our phone does. My husband wants to know how many miles until the next turn-off and which direction we will be turning long before we reach it. 

A couple of months ago, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, we decided to take a 1,400-mile trip to surprise the family for our granddaughter’s birthday.  Now, you must understand that we are NOT spur-of-the-moment people by any stretch of the imagination. We are planners.

 

On a Thursday late afternoon, I was talking on the phone with our son. He mentioned that they were having a birthday party for our soon-to-be 25-year-old granddaughter on Saturday. As I hung up the phone, a wild idea crossed my mind: wouldn’t it be fun to surprise her and show up at her party? I enthusiastically shared the idea with my husband, who was game for an adventure. He immediately got on the computer and printed directions and a map. I shot a quick text to our son-in-law about our plans so someone knew what we were doing and insisted that he keep it a secret. We scurried around packing our bags, locating items we absolutely needed to bring for our family, and preparing just-in-case winter weather items like blankets, boots, and coats, plus pillows, things to do in the car, such as knitting, books to read, and my computer, and plenty of snacks. Having packed the car ahead of our estimated departure time so we could just hop in and head out, we looked at everything we had packed and burst out laughing. The backseat and the trunk were jam-packed, as if we were heading out for three weeks instead of three days. But we were ready for literally anything!

 

Heading to bed early, we set our alarms for 4:00 A.M. Printed directions and map in hand, we were on the road by 5:00 A.M. Still close to town, the driving was clear sailing. As we ventured further out of town, into the more rural areas, it was extremely dark, there were no lights except for the blinding headlights of oncoming cars. Road signs became harder to read without light, as they were covered in winter dirt and dew-laden. But onward, we drove with determination, not knowing that many miles back, we had unintentionally taken a right instead of a left. One hour. Two hours. “Hmmm? This doesn’t look right,” the driver said. “I think we were supposed to turn back there,” the navigator replied. But on we drove. Eventually, we came across a conveniently located Chevron station. “Let me see that map,” the driver said. “Yep, we are heading in the wrong direction,” he confirmed, “it looks like we are headed back where we came from.” We continued along the same route until we came upon Route 20.  Wait….what???? Pulling over to the side of the road, my husband looked at me and said, “Well, we have been driving for over two and a half hours. It looks like we looped back on a different route because we are now twenty minutes from home. What do you want to do?” “Let’s go home!” the navigator responded. So, we did.

There are so many lessons in this story. Lesson one: We should have used our GPS. We should have trusted the expert in directions, Google’s annoying voice. Lesson two: We justified our fiasco by thinking that maybe God was protecting us from something bad that might happen while we were on the road. In His mercy, He acted on what He knew lay ahead. That could be true. He’s like that! But more importantly, lesson three: I hadn’t stopped to pray about the trip beforehand. I hadn’t asked the real Navigator if we should go or not, and to give us directions. I hadn’t asked the real Navigator to show us the way. Even when we realized we were lost and heading in the wrong direction, I did not turn to the real Navigator. It wasn’t until my husband asked me, “What do you want to do?” that it struck me. I needed to go home; my plan was not God’s plan. 

Proverbs 16:9 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

God’s plans and purposes for us are always the best. He is the true expert in directions. It is in our best interest to consult the true Navigator. Even when we forget, His plans will prevail. There is freedom in knowing that we can trust Jesus to guide and direct us in every situation. When we rely on Jesus instead of our own judgment, we can be worry-free and won’t get lost on dark roads or take wrong turns.

In John 14:6a, Jesus said, “I am the way.” He is the only road we can follow. We can trust Jesus to lead us, provide direction, and give us a thumbs-up or thumbs-down for everything we do or plan to do. I am so grateful that Jesus possesses infinite patience and wisdom as we travel this road called life.

Think about this: 

What plans are you making that you should be consulting the Navigator about?