Recalculating

If you depend on a GPS system on your phone or in your car to get you from here to there, then you have undoubtedly heard the voice message “recalculating.”  If you miss a turn or turn the wrong way, then the GPS system will automatically reset your directions based on your last movement.  It will now give you new directions to follow.

Sometimes it would be nice to have some kind of system to help us make decisions about the direction of our lives.  Often, we find ourselves in situations in which a decision is to be made that will have an impact on the direction of our lives.  Hence, we want to make the best decision that will lead us in the right direction.  As a result, this uncertainty about which way to go can lead to sleepless nights and anxious days.

As people of faith, the hope is that God will show us the way.  We often bathe these moments in the waters of prayer asking God to direct our steps.  We not only want to make the best decision, but we also want to move in the direction that God desires.  In my own life with such moments, I have often turned to a scripture passage from the book of Proverbs.  Proverbs 3: 5-6 reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”  The scripture invites me to trust God and acknowledge his presence in my life and my decision-making process and God will show me the way.  The scripture also reminds me to lean not simply on my own understanding, but rather to lean into God and trust his guidance.  It has been my experience that God will show us a way, even where there seems to be no way.

Yet, even when I do try to honor God’s presence in my decisions, I still find myself at times making a wrong turn.  Rather than choosing to follow God’s lead, I venture out on my own.  During these times, however, I either end up lost or stuck at a dead end.  Fortunately, God’s grace is always recalculating.  God is a God of second chances.  Even when we falter, God still offers himself to us and his faithfulness.  When we make a bad turn in life, God does not turn away from us, but he goes with us and then helps us recalculate as we try to move forward again.

We may feel stuck or lost in our lives.  We may find ourselves beating ourselves up for making a poor decision.  We may be wondering if there is any way forward.  Yet, wherever we are right now in our lives, we can trust that our God is with us.  We can also trust that God will show us the way as we lean into him.  And even if we have made a bad decision, God is always recalculating to show us the better way.