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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Reroute your GPS

I recently was driving home from out of town and I used GPS to give me my route home.  The route the GPS took me on the way home was different than the route it had me take on the way to my original destination.  My passenger told me in a near panic that I was about to miss my turn when I was sitting at a red light.  I told my passenger I was actually taking another route home.  He was not very pleased with the new route and I asked my passenger if there was a particular reason he wanted to take the other route home.  My passenger responded with, "No, that is just always the way I go."

It ocurred to me thinking about this on the way home that we often approach our relationship with Jesus Christ the same way.  We have our traditions, our habits and so many things we do because "we have always done it that way."  Where do we leave room for Christ when we refuse to adjust course for something new to be done within us?  

When we stay on the same path or route in our lives we become complacent and we only see what we expect to see.  We can often overlook something that is new or someone that may need help.  When we travel the same path for a long time, we become accustomed to what we see.  The people in our lives become accustomed to seeing us.  We know no strangers.  However, Hebrews 13:1-2 says, 

Hebrews 13:1-2  Let brotherly love continue.  (2)  Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

How can we entertain strangers if we do not venture out of what we know or "what we have always done?"  We can't.  When we venture into new areas we tend to be more observant than we are if we stay on a course we know well.  We aren't familiar with our surroundings, or the people.  We don't know what belongs and what doesn't.  It is no different when we walk a new path laid before us by the Lord.  We are in unfamiliar territory so we pay closer attention to what is around us.  We try to listen closely for His voice to ensure we are going in the right direction.  We watch the road much closer.  We look for potholes and speed limit signs. The same occurs in our spiritual walk as well.  God never leaves us or forsakes us.  He is with us always.  He is with us in the old path, the new path, and the paths we haven't yet walked.  

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;  (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

We may not understand the path the Lord is taking us on.  But we don't have to.  We are not to lean on our own understanding.  We are to trust in the Lord.  We are to acknowledge Him in everything we do, and He will direct our paths.  He will be the One that guides and protects us as we walk in unfamiliar territory.  

Isaiah 55:8-9  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.  (9)  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

His ways are not ours...we are not to lean on our own understanding.  We cannot fathom the thoughts and ways of our God.  His ways may not always make sense to us, but they are His and He has a plan.  

1 Corinthians 1:27-29  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;  (28)  and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,  (29)  that no flesh should glory in His presence.

What may make no sense, or what may look foolish to those in the world, God intentionally chose to confound the wise.  God's strength is found in our weakness, so while we may not understand what is going on or God's plan, that is okay.  Our hope is anchored in Him.

Hebrews 6:19-20  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,  (20)  where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

We all know the purpose of an anchor, right? It is lowered into the water to prevent a ship or boat from continuing to move after it's engines are turned off.  So, our hope anchors us in the stream of Living Water.  When we anchor our hope in Him, when we put our trust in the Lord, He directs our paths.  He holds us in Him.  Because we have this hope in Him, we don't have to fear what is to come.  (2 Timothy 1:7)

We can trust Him because His Word says we can.  He only has good thoughts toward us.

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

So, don't get stuck in habits or complacency.  Don't get stuck in fearing the unknown.  God is God. God knows what He is doing.  His will is perfect.  Place your trust in Him and see what He can do.

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