It felt like suddenly there were 6 trillion options. I went through a ton of them in my head until finally (about 45 seconds later), I gave up and did the only thing that seemed wise at the time: "Google, take me to...."
Friends, this isn't just a destination I know; it's where I lived at one point in my life. I've been going there for a couple decades now, and yet, I found myself following the Google lady's voice commands to somewhere I knew the way to. Why?
Because I wanted to know the BEST route to get there, and for that, I needed help.
The next morning, I was reading the book of Joshua. In Chapter 9, a chunk of people groups banded together to fight against the Israelites, who, with God's help, were conquering their way toward the promised land. The Gibeonites, however, chose a different tactic. They duped the Israelites into a treaty by pretending they were from a far away land.
A couple verses stuck out to me, though.
Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions,
but did not seek the Lord's counsel.
So Joshua established peace with them
and made a treaty to let them live,
and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.
Joshua 9:14-15
The men were examining the Gibeonites' story, but they missed a crucial step: consulting the Lord.
To the Israelites' natural eyes, everything seemed as they said; it appeared they were from far away because their provisions were all nasty, crumbly, and stale. But because they didn't consult the Lord, they were deceived by their senses.
It made me think of my GPS moment the night before, and friends, I know I am not the first to make the God:GPS analogy. We've all heard it before. But I hope you'll hang with me here because this put a new spin on it for me.
Christians have an enemy; he is a deceiver. He would have me turn away from God's path for me if He can. And here's the kicker, y'all, it often isn't a path that looks like doom and gloom; it looks like a perfectly decent, respectable path, but one that isn't of the Lord.
When I met with my friend, Jackie, last week, she said, "Our choice often isn't between right and wrong, it's between right and almost right." Tell me that isn't one of the most brilliant things you've ever heard. I'm getting that sucker put on a bumper sticker (not really - I don't do bumper stickers).
But she's right. The only way to know whether we're going the right direction is to seek the will of the Lord, consistently, even in the seemingly simple things - even when you think you already know where you're going.
There are a couple areas of my life, where God has shown me at least a little piece of His plan for me, where I'm "going," you could say. But only He knows the best way for me to get there. If left to my own devices, I'll try to take the "quickest" or "easiest" route, only to land in a place God never wanted me to be.
I know these things because I've screwed it up a time or twelve. I've tried to kick down doors that weren't mine, rush headlong into things I wasn't anywhere near ready for, and find positions at tables I had no business sitting at.
Friends, the results of that weren't pretty. God's grace is always there, and His mercy is new each morning, but His discipline stings sometimes. But that's what loving fathers do - correct their children.
I'm learning to consult the Lord, even when a decision seems like a "no-brainer," and then (the hard part), actually wait for His answer. I'm trying not to rush things. I'm trying to trust not just His plan, but His timing in it.
So, the next time you need to make a decision about life (or just heading across town), try consulting the only One who knows exactly which way you should go. It may not be the easiest route, but I promise it'll be the best.
