Get Lost!

My husband likes to say that when it comes to my personality, I am more like a man than most men he knows. I think he gets that from the way I drive. I’m the kind of person that hates to ask for directions when lost. It’s not a pride thing. I just enjoy the challenge of trying to figure out the right way. Eventually, I always do…otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this right now, I’d still be driving around in circles somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

This reminds me of an analogy I once heard at a Weight Watchers meeting. The leader was talking about getting back on track when you’ve fallen off the diet and exercise bandwagon. She told us to imagine that we were on a cross country road trip when, about half way to California, we realize we’ve taken a wrong turn and have ended up about 200 miles away from the road we were supposed to be on. She asked us to think about what we’d do in that situation. Would we just keep driving in the wrong direction…further and further away from our destination? Or, would we decide that we didn’t feel like driving the 200 miles back to the main road and choose just to stay put where we had ended up. Of course not! The only logical option in this situation would be to turn around and get back on the path that leads to our destination. Yes, it would be frustrating to have to drive an additional 400 miles on an already long trip, but that would be the only way to get where you wanted to go.

This analogy also works when we think about our developing faith. Occasionally, we will take a wrong turn, ending up on a path that leads us away from God. This is called sin. But, as soon as we realize we are heading the wrong way we have to turn around and get back on track. The good news is that God is ready to give us the directions we need. Even stubborn folks like me need to stop and ask for his help when we get lost, remembering these words from Psalm 23, “He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” So, If you are feeling lost today, pray that God will give you the strength to turn around. Ask Him to lead you back to that path of righteousness, back to a road that leads to an eternity spent in his loving arms.