The Mosaic GPS

I hate getting lost.

I had to attend a meeting in Providence last week and I made one wrong turn. That decision sent me through a labyrinth of one way streets that cost me time, threw my stress factor into warp drive and tested my resolve to attend the meeting.

I had been enjoying the drive and the beautiful weather but taking that wrong turn transformed me into a screaming, hyperventilating maniac and robbed me of any pleasure I’d been taking in the trip.

If you ever watch The Amazing Race where teams of two travel the world and overcome orchestrated challenges to compete for a cash prize, you’ll notice the contestants can be patient, determined and unified until they lose their way. Like rats in an unending maze, their spirits and their resolve are clipped to the cuticle and they bleed frustration. I’m not the only one who hates getting lost.

It’s nice having access to Mapquest. Written directions are useful. GPS is also an invaluable tool to staying on course. My preference, however, is to have someone beside me who knows the way.

When you’re with someone who knows how to get you where you’re going, any trip becomes relaxing and enjoyable, even if there are detours. Foreign streets don’t seem daunting or dangerous. It’s even possible to veer from the charted course and navigate unmarked side streets because the person you are with knows how to get around. The journey becomes an adventure, an excursion, an odyssey.

Moses understood this. He wandered in the desert for forty years heading for a place he did not know but he was never lost. Every day, Moses spent hours in the Tent of Meeting speaking with God face-to-face. God personally guided him and the Israelites to their destination. Moses did not know the way but he was unafraid because he traveled with the One who knew. This was the original, the Mosaic GPS.

I get lost all the time.

Life is full of rabbit holes and there are days that I skip my trip to the Tent of Meeting in order to be on my way. To outside observers, my pursuits don’t appear to be misguided but I am on a sojourn with a specific destination and I’ve never been to this place so I need minute-by-minute guidance.

But, day after day, I foolishly take off alone.

I may scan the written directions and fumble my way along but I’m prone to wrong turns. While it may look to others like I know what I’m doing, the truth is, I’m one decision away from getting lost.

Better are the days when I spend time in the presence of God because He knows the way to this place – this place called “Christ-like”. Ironically, on those days, it may look to others like I’m wandering but if they could see with the eyes of their souls they would notice I’m not alone. Whenever I’m with Him, I’m in no danger of falling down rabbit holes or taking wrong turns. He even knows the way around every detour.

Ever get so lost you couldn’t even explain to someone where you were? I have. In my car, on my computer, in my life, I’ve gotten lost and called for help only to be told “We have no idea how you got where you are and haven’t a clue how to tell you to find your way out.” That’s when the Mosaic GPS is the answer.

God never loses sight of us. He knows exactly where we took every wrong turn. In the Tent of Meeting, He can sort us out, turn us around and get us back on the right road. I know. I have to go there all the time for redirection.

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.” God has a plan for getting each of us to the place where we have become Christ-like and since we each start from a different spot; He’s the only one who knows the way.

Feeling uptight about your journey? Taken a turn down some strange looking back road? Turn to the Mosaic GPS – spend time alone with God – and invite Him to guide you back to the narrow way.