Everybody who knows me knows that I am a gadget lover. One of my newest gadgets is a little GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) device that fastens to the windshield of my car. It has a little screen that shows my car’s current position on a map. It allows me to put in the address of where I want to go, and it guides me there by giving voice directions about upcoming turns. It’s really cool! (It’s a perfect gift for men. You know we don’t like to stop and ask for directions. You may know the old joke about that being why the children of Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness).
After playing with this new toy for several months, I have found that it does not always get me to my destination by the route I would have chosen, but it does get me there.
My faith in it was sorely tested when I was returning home from my vacation in West Virginia a few weeks ago. I was heading north on I-79 when I ran into a traffic jam several miles long. Apparently there had been an accident up ahead. I noticed that some cars were crossing the median and doing a U-turn and going back to the exit we had just passed. After sitting there for awhile, I decided to do the same thing. After all, I had my GPS device. I knew it would find me another way to go. I did the U-turn., got off the interstate and headed north on a parallel road. Sure enough! My little GPS device calculated a new route which I assumed would eventually take me north until I reached a new entrance to I-79 somewhere above the traffic jam. Things went fine for awhile. I was following a bunch of other cars heading north on a nice two lane state highway. After several miles my device told me to “turn right” onto Skunks Hollow Road (or something like that). No other car was going that way, but I decided to trust my GPS device. I thought it must know a shortcut these other drivers didn’t know about. The road was not as nice as the road I left, but it was okay. After a few miles, the device told me to “turn left” on Turkey Creek Road (or some such road). I did. This road was not so nice. It was narrow, and to call it “paved” would you give you the wrong impression. To make a long story short, I kept following the instructions to make turn after turn. The roads got worse and worse. Some were only one lane. I went deeper and deeper into the sticks. I thought briefly about turning around and trying to retrace my route, but by this time I had made so many turns I knew I could never find my way back. My only option was to keep trusting my GPS device and travel on. So on I went, wondering if I would ever see civilization again. Finally, the device told me to take another right hand turn. Lo and behold! There it was! The entrance to I-79! I got back on the highway and headed north well above the traffic jam. O GPS device! I will never doubt you again!
As soon as I got back on I-79, my preacher’s brain began to work. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord always…” (Psalms 130:7). But sometimes it’s hard to trust. Sometimes it seems that the path you think God is leading you on is just taking you deeper and deeper into trouble. For example, when Moses first went to Pharoah with God’s message, “Let my people go,” he found that things only got worse. Do you keep trusting, or do you turn around and go back?
Well, I trusted my GPS device and it didn’t let me down. Maybe I can trust God too.
©2005 C. David Hess
After playing with this new toy for several months, I have found that it does not always get me to my destination by the route I would have chosen, but it does get me there.
My faith in it was sorely tested when I was returning home from my vacation in West Virginia a few weeks ago. I was heading north on I-79 when I ran into a traffic jam several miles long. Apparently there had been an accident up ahead. I noticed that some cars were crossing the median and doing a U-turn and going back to the exit we had just passed. After sitting there for awhile, I decided to do the same thing. After all, I had my GPS device. I knew it would find me another way to go. I did the U-turn., got off the interstate and headed north on a parallel road. Sure enough! My little GPS device calculated a new route which I assumed would eventually take me north until I reached a new entrance to I-79 somewhere above the traffic jam. Things went fine for awhile. I was following a bunch of other cars heading north on a nice two lane state highway. After several miles my device told me to “turn right” onto Skunks Hollow Road (or something like that). No other car was going that way, but I decided to trust my GPS device. I thought it must know a shortcut these other drivers didn’t know about. The road was not as nice as the road I left, but it was okay. After a few miles, the device told me to “turn left” on Turkey Creek Road (or some such road). I did. This road was not so nice. It was narrow, and to call it “paved” would you give you the wrong impression. To make a long story short, I kept following the instructions to make turn after turn. The roads got worse and worse. Some were only one lane. I went deeper and deeper into the sticks. I thought briefly about turning around and trying to retrace my route, but by this time I had made so many turns I knew I could never find my way back. My only option was to keep trusting my GPS device and travel on. So on I went, wondering if I would ever see civilization again. Finally, the device told me to take another right hand turn. Lo and behold! There it was! The entrance to I-79! I got back on the highway and headed north well above the traffic jam. O GPS device! I will never doubt you again!
As soon as I got back on I-79, my preacher’s brain began to work. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord always…” (Psalms 130:7). But sometimes it’s hard to trust. Sometimes it seems that the path you think God is leading you on is just taking you deeper and deeper into trouble. For example, when Moses first went to Pharoah with God’s message, “Let my people go,” he found that things only got worse. Do you keep trusting, or do you turn around and go back?
Well, I trusted my GPS device and it didn’t let me down. Maybe I can trust God too.
©2005 C. David Hess
