How to See God’s Direction When You’re a Little Lost
Some people are blessed with a gift I only wish I had: a sense of direction. I’m not talking about understanding God’s direction for your life (we’ll get to that in a few minutes) – but literally – knowing the direction you need to go, when you need to go there.
Understanding where I am and arriving where I want to go isn’t a skill I’ve spent any time developing, I’m sorry to say. Why would I? Isn’t that why God created GPS?
You might agree, though, it’s pretty bad when you need a GPS to walk three blocks.
But that’s what I did when I stopped at the MetroCenter in D.C. for an event at the National Press Club. My first thought walking out of the station into the bright afternoon sun was to type the address on my phone’s handy little Maps app and hit ‘start’. But as Siri told me in her very nasal but familiar tone of where to go, I froze and started arguing with myself in my head (do you do this too?):
I can’t have this thing talking to me as I’m walking, unless I want EVERYONE knowing how directionally clueless I am. And that I’m ‘not from around here.’ Why not just hold a neon sign that says “ROB ME” for all of the pickpockets and criminals I’m sure are just waiting at 4:30 in the afternoon on a really bright sunny day for GPS-on-phone-focused, directionally-challenged visitors like myself?
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It’s pretty bad when you need a GPS to walk three blocks.
Tweet ThisThen I had a brilliant idea. Noticing all of the people passing me by on the sidewalk with headphones over their ears, I decided to blend in like the locals and quickly pulled out my own earbuds. Clever, right?
Now I had the reassuring voice of Siri in my ear and the map with the little dot on my phone and no one around me knew any different. Nothing could go wrong now. Problem solved!
Directions Aren’t Always So Obvious
With phone in hand, I casually but purposefully headed in the direction the map displayed and listened for the next verbal set of instructions from my invisible tour guide. But after walking about 500 feet, I realized I’d missed something because my walk suddenly increased three more minutes. This wasn’t a good option on a very unusually warm October day in the nation’s capital. So I turned around and doubled back, and tried it again.
I walked another 500 feet, still following the moving dot on the gps in my hand, but sure enough, I STILL wasn’t going the right way.
(Y’all. I told you. Directionally challenged. Even with a GPS. Is there a support group for people like me?)
Yes, my current direction might get me to my destination, but not by the best, most direct way.
As I noticed the time of my event moving closer, I stopped and pulled up a screenshot of instructions I found earlier that day on the venue’s website. By following those clear steps designating the streets and turns in front me, with the voice from my phone giving me verbal cues and matching the words in front of me, I easily arrived where I needed to be.
In that moment, stepping through the building’s entrance, I sensed God’s soft whisper to my heart. Pay attention to this, He said.
That little dot on the GPS followed me, not the other way around.
That dot might know my destination, but it follows my steps. If I take a wrong detour, the GPS detours with me. I might arrive where I want to go, but spend more time getting there.
Only by reading and following instructions from the place I want to end up, listening for the voice in my ears to confirm those instructions, can I successfully land at my destination.
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That dot might know my destination, but it follows my steps.
Tweet ThisIsn’t that how God works with us?
When we attempt to understand God’s direction for our lives and how we should get there without relying on His instructions or His voice in our heads, we add unnecessary steps. We get lost. Sometimes, so lost, we give up. We stop listening. We stop following. We stop moving.
But by heeding God’s instructions in His Word, we listen more intently for His voice. We hear His Holy Spirit whisper and speak confirmation over those instructions and our next step from God. We take specific steps, make clearer choices, and follow God’s now more obvious turns.
We arrive where God wants us, on His terms and not ours.
Still need convincing? Some assurance? A little encouragement? What does the Bible say about following God’s lead?
10 Directions God Gives Us in Scripture
Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
1 John 3:10 – “This is how God’s children—and the Devil’s children—are made evident. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother.”
Matthew 28:19 – “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”
Micah 6:8 – “Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Ephesians 5:15-16 – “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”
Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first the kingdom of God[a] and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13 – “‘For I know the plans I have for you’ —this is the Lord’s declaration—’plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.'”
Romans 12:2 – “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
John 3:16-17 – “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
I’m so grateful God has laid out so many clear directions in His Word, aren’t you? (And I said clear – not easy to follow. Obedience is a whole different topic!) Which of these scriptures will you write out this week and apply in your day to day? Share with me in the comments, I’d love to know!
Like this list of scriptures? Click here for your free printable!
Do you struggle with following the dots of understanding God’s Word and connecting what He wants you to do to your life? Do you find it harder to move forward using His instructions and instead, you wander around, relying on your own sense of direction? Do you get lost more often in the process? If so, I hope you’ll come back for my next post – I’m sharing 10 simple steps you can take to better understand the Bible. We’ll look at how you can learn to rely on God’s instructions for your life, and not your own.
The post How to See God’s Direction When You’re a Little Lost appeared first on Sara Horn.
