I love sharing examples of seeing God work in our lives.  It reminds us that He is real and present with us…

Recently, our family was traveling to the East Coast and found ourselves between snow and ice storms.  I poured over map and weather sites trying to select the perfect route.  We were heading from Indiana   After much anguish, I settled in on the Northern route given the storm patterns and timing calculations.  As I approached a crucial bypass, my GPS rerouted and decided it wanted to take a path to the South through the city .  This didn’t make any sense to me because the path had more miles, was more time consuming, had construction, and had tolls.  Not knowing those details at the time, I decided to fully surrender and trust that the GPS would lead me well.

I might mention that all of this travel was done with 13 of our children that are still at home with us ranging from age 3 – 18.  We had what we thought was a 9hr drive ahead of us already and we certainly didn’t need to add to that (or so I thought).

The path was on state highways that I had never been on and probably wouldn’t have selected.  It snaked back and forth in the mountains rather than the straight interstate route we normally would have selected.  There were slowdowns, stoplights and many other annoyances that reminded me I needed to stay ahead of the storm.

By lunch time we felt sleet pelting our faces as we hurried quickly to orchestrate the bathroom/food stop.  Within 10 minutes, we were back on the road and the next several hours held rain, fog, traffic and tolls.  As my wife kept an eye on the radar, she began to notice that the attractive “Northern Route” had actually become an icy deathtrap.

This story reminded me that this is how God leads us.  Often times we are in a rush, wanting to come up with the perfect plan ourselves.  We forget that while a man makes his plans the Lord orders his steps.  We miss the fact that God loves us protects us and grow our trust in Him all at the same time.  He’s not concerned with the shortest, fastest, cheapest or most convenient route.  He’s interested in the process of conforming us to the image of Christ.   If we’re honest, we often act like He’s not even there.  While we pray for His blessing, we exclude Him and His wisdom from our lives.

I recall stating “I wish Google would add a layer of weather map over their road map so I can plan better”.  What I really should have said was, “I look forward to glorifying God and praising Him for how He will protect us through this storm.   Isn’t it sad that we have come to trust Google more than God, His power and His word. While Google has massive amounts of data, it is not even a drop in the bucket compared to the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Check out today’s reading below and trust in your Heavenly Father, the only flawless GPS (God Protection System)

TODAY’S READING – PSALM 121 (NASB)

1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?

2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.

8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

Reflection

Where are you most prone to trust yourself rather than God?

Confess this to God and ask Him to increase our trust of Him. 

Think of some times where you were protected not by your planning. 

Verbally praise our Father in heaven for His faithfulness and protection. 

Prayer

LORD, we thank you for Your faithfulness.  You protect us and set our feet on a firm foundation where we can grow in You and carry out Your perfect plan. Your works are mighty and true. May the blessing of Your presence surround us forever,  in Jesus’ name, Amen!