You plan a trip. You get all the basics you need: gas for the car, snacks for while you drive, and a new map. You know where you want to end up so what makes the most sense? Finding the easiest way to get there. You may look to avoid tolls (who wants to pay those?) You may know of construction that you want to avoid. Or maybe there are roads commonly flooded with cars that you know ways around.
Finally the day has arrived for you to start on your journey. Highlighted map in hand, you get into the car. You adjust the thermostat and turn on your favorite radio station. Your eyes see something you forgot you were given for Christmas: a GPS. You reconsider your trip: you just spent weeks or months meticulously planning a trip to avoid certain places, see other ones, and get to your destination as fast as possible. You have the perfect journey planned...on a map. A GPS is more "all-knowing." It's hooked into satellites and has information that I don't. But here's the trick: it might take me down roads I wanted to avoid. I could try to override it as I go, but that's a hassle because let's be honest: once a GPS has it's 'mind' set on a set of roads, it's tough to change its mind.
You decide to ignore the GPS. You researched this trip thoroughly. There can't be anything you missed, because you are smart and on top of things. Besides, the GPS is just going to take you on roads you specifically wanted to avoid. You turn on the car and you are on your way.
The first part of your trip is exactly how you planned. There's hardly any traffic and you see the construction on a nearby road that you were able to get around. The trip so far is perfect.
But suddenly, there's an accident and traffic is at a stand still. Well shoot. You didn't account for this. You have to wait until the police come and traffic is funneled into one lane. You are set back about 30 minutes, but you tell yourself that it's not the end of the world. You can make up that time somewhere.
About an hour later, there's a new traffic pattern being created because of the shopping center being built. Shoot, you forgot about that. You can't keep going the way you originally planned. Luckily you know how to get back onto this road, but you'll just have to take several back roads and it will set you back about another 30 minutes.
You are about three-quarters of the way through your trip, which is now at least an hour behind schedule and the sky opens up. Rain comes down so hard you have to slow your speed by 50% and you can hardly see. You try to continue for about another 20 minutes but you don't get very far. You realize that since the entire sky is black and it's getting late, you probably need to stop for the night to be safe. You didn't plan for this. You didn't think you were going to have to stop somewhere, especially overnight. You aren't near anything and aren't familiar with the area. You are left with no choice: you have to turn on the GPS. The GPS boots up and you search for nearby hotels. Luckily, there is one not far and you make your way to the establishment.
You walk up to the front desk to check in and ask for a room. The clerk smiles and asks for all the necessary information. Trying to make small talk while getting everything ready the clerk asks where you were headed before the storm derailed your plans. You tell the clerk and the response is not what you expect.
"That place has been shut down for awhile. You can't go there anymore."
What? You planned your trip! You were thorough! You knew the best and fastest way to get there. You made the best decisions in the face of crisis along the way. You didn't flip anyone off on the road or curse or scream. Why didn't someone tell you this ahead of time?
You thank the clerk and go to your car to grab your belongings and head to your room. The card slides in and out of the lock, turning green to allow you entrance. You dump everything from the car on the bed and you see the GPS lying there. You're glad you didn't turn on the GPS because it would never have told you the place was shut down. There's no way the GPS could know that.
For fun, you give it a try. You type in the address and click go. It takes a few seconds but the GPS gives you directions to the address. Smugly, you smile thinking at least you were smarter than the GPS. Then you see a button on the GPS you never noticed. You can find a location by its name instead of the address. Your smile falters as you decide to try this option. You find the category of your destination and type in the name and click search. Several minutes pass as the hourglass sifts and spins. Eventually a message pops up:
"Location not found."
--------------------------------------------
So a storyteller and writer I am not, but there's a purpose to this story. It's my story. It's your story. It's everyone's story.
How often have we planned our lives, every detail, only to have nothing seem to work out. We get stopped and derailed but we press on. Until we are eventually told, sorry. It's not going to happen.
I often wonder were the first bumps in the road sings? Did I ignore things God was trying to tell me, trying to prevent me from arriving at my destination?
Possibly.
But here's what I've come to realize:
It. Doesn't. Matter.
If I ignored the signs God sent and he never meant for me to reach the destination, guess what? I'll never reach the destination! In that story, even if I had continued on that journey, never mentioning anything to the clerk about where I was going, I would have stayed the night, left and continued the journey. Eventually, I would have arrived at the address and found out for myself that I could not go in.
Now, I'm not trying to insinuate that GPS' are infallible, but hopefully you get my point. God knows better than we do because He has access to all kinds of information. Past, present AND future. Ignoring Him gets us nowhere and only wastes our time. If in my story, I had decided to consult the GPS the right way, I would have never started on the journey because I would have known not to waste my time. I realize that's not how it always go, but we can save ourselves a lot of heartache if we lean on God instead of trying to do it all by ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment