What do you do when the road you are on isn't on the map?

Proverbs 3:5 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

What do you do when the road you are on isn’t on the map?

While on vacation we were driving through a major city on the interstate. I knew the state road that I was looking for. The number was well planted in my mind, but to my dismay there were no state road numbers on their exit signs only street names. Not very helpful! We finally got off the interstate, but the road we were on wasn’t on our map. After too many u-turns, multiple left and right turns and too many failed attempts we finally ended up on a road that WAS on the map. Yeah, God. But … which direction do we go? A few minutes passed and another u-turn we finally felt that we were heading in the right direction. We were having an adventure, but weren’t enjoying it!

The next day, on another back road in the same state we were making great time. But, alas, that too was going to come to a halt. Our map showed the road we were on continuing for another 10 or 12 miles before merging onto a county road, but the sign read, Route 13 ends. Confusion, decisions … what do you do when the road you are on isn’t on the map?

Kind of sounds like our life doesn’t it.

We are making great time, having an adventure, enjoying the scenery, stopping occasionally to smell some roses … but then we discover that the road we are on in this life isn’t on God’s map. Oh, God knows where we are, but we don’t. We begin to wonder or is that wander. We’ve lost our way, failed to understand our purpose, begin to think that we are just taking up space, useless. Meaningless sets in. Negative thoughts take root. We start making u-turns, taking a left turn here and a right turn there … always trying to make sense out of our decisions. And God waits patiently for us to pick up the road map of life … and there it is, an understanding, a purpose, a direction … some road signs to guide us, to put us back on the right path.

Our wayward adventure is over, but the real life adventure is just beginning … the kind of adventure we could have only dreamed about … the kind of adventure that will “knock our socks off” … the fun filled, joy overflowing, grace touched, love shared adventure that allows an unbelievable peace that flows through our being.

The other thing I like about God’s road map it doesn’t have all those confusing folds in it … and stores nicely in the “glove compartment” of our heart!

In The Message, Psalm 119:105 reads: By your words I can see where I'm going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path.

I don’t know about you, but my path can get awfully dark at times. I simply get lost, make bad decisions, get angry, frustrated, filled with doubt and anxiety … like wandering in a desert … I keep on making u-turns but never get any where … Boy, do I need God’s road map ever before me!