How Are You Driving Directions?

We are often called to walk in darkness, where God leads us to that next step which is usually not clear, predictable, or controllable by the rational mind. - Richard Rohr 

I can't stand not knowing where I am going.  It's rare these days that I find myself lost because I almost always use my smartphone to guide me.  But there are moments when the way is not clear even for the smartest of phones. 

Just about every year a story emerges of some unlucky person who followed driving directions on their smartphone smack dab into a lake or off a disabled bridge.  

The moral of the story almost always is: if they had been watching the signs, instead of trusting the directions on their phones, they would have avoided calamity.

We often do the same thing when it comes to finding our way forward in life.  We think we have it figured out, and that we don't need any signs from God or any of God's outside influence to map our course.  

Most of us live in the mistaken notion that our method of finding direction on our own is safer and more reliable, but when we try to map our own course, we almost always end up where we didn't want to go. 

It might feel safe to follow the conventional paths.  It might feel secure to rely solely on your own instincts of direction.  But there are times when playing it safe is exactly the opposite of what God might be leading us to do.  

Bob Goff recently wrote: 

"Playing it safe doesn’t move us forward or help us grow; it just finds us where we are and leaves us in the same condition it found us in."

If you've been playing it safe by relying on your own navigation... If you have embraced your need for security over your longing to be who God dreams for you to be... If you have found yourself driving your life into a lake more than once... 

It's time to lift up your head and begins to see God's signs, which are all around you.  It's time to trust God's omnipresent love and influence in your life.  It's time to move in the right direction.  

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.