Faith, Fear, and the GPS
My morning devotional included this statement:
"Fear and faith have something in common." They both ask us to believe something will happen that we cannot see."
Do you ever get caught up with stories inside your head...the kind of stories that play out worst case scenarios? I do. If circumstances or a conversation with someone go badly, I take those seeds of discomfort and create a 3 Act Drama of catastrophe in my mind. Harmless self-indulgence of negative thinking? No, probably not so harmless.
It has been shown over and over that our lives move in the direction of our thinking. Even the scripture says, "As a man thinketh, so is he." Job, a man whose story is famous for it's catastrophic dimensions, said, "The thing I feared came upon me." (Job 3:25)
On a more practical level, we know that our bodies will travel in the direction that our eyes are focused. If you are driving a car, and you turn your attention to the right or to the left, your vehicle will gradually begin moving in the direction of your focus, will it not?
Several months ago, I traveled to New Jersey on business, and paid extra to have a Garmin GPS device included in the rental car. Whenever I missed a turn or went the wrong direction (too often, I might add), the patient female voice of the Garmin would chirp, "Recalculating...recalculating..." At first it annoyed me. After several days together, I found it comforting, even humorous.
When I make mistakes, or take a turn away from the direction God desires for me, his gentle voice is always there, "Recalculating...recalculating..." I have nothing to fear. Energy spent on fear, or creating a horror story of where the road might lead is a complete waste of my time and resources.
I know that the goodness and mercy of God will follow me all the days of my life. Even in the face of dead ends, washed out bridges, and outright road blocks, my God knows the end of the road from the beginning, and he will bring me safely home.
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