Re Routing

    

    Up until I was a young adult if you had to travel to a new address or place, the only way to plan out a route or get a source of direction was to pull out a paper map and plot your journey. Sometimes I would have written down turn-by-turn directions and pictograms and hoped that I would not get lost on the way.   Now in the age of cell phones and technology, our phones have become instant and updated travel guides with turn-by-turn directions included. All I need to do is open the MAP Application and type in the destination address.  I put the phone down and it tells me where to turn and calculates the location of my vehicle based on GPS (  Global Positioning System). Almost all of the time I arrive at my destination with little or no confusion or stress. In the odd event that I make the wrong turn, go too far, or have situations out of my control the GPS system instantly starts re-routing my route and recalculates how to arrive at my destination. While it is recalculating it uses my geological location to help me find another route to my desired destination. Over and over again the GPS will repeat the "Re-calculating route" until the new route has been decided upon. 

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice saying, "This is the road! Now follow it." ( Isaiah 30:21 - Contemporary English Version) 

 Sometimes in life, things do not go exactly to plan. You get diagnosed with an illness, someone you love passes away, you lose your job, you are treated unfairly, missed opportunities, mental health issues, poor decisions, and circumstances out of your control.  Also, good things can happen that might change the direction of where you were planning on going.

"You may think you are on the right road and still end up dead. Sorrow may hide behind laughter, and happiness may end in sorrow. You harvest what you plant, whether good or bad." Proverbs 14:12-14 Contemporary English Version) 

I never once thought of where God was planning on us going, I never even asked or prayed about it. I just went through the motions of each day. Now that I have had time to look back upon my life and reflect I can imagine God sitting on his throne spamming the re-calculating route button throughout my life.  

He has always been there plotting a journey with me, I just kept changing the route away from our plan and making it my plan.  

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6 - English Standard Version) 

I have been challenging myself to listen to the whispers of God and allow our paths to become one journey together. 

The Sting of regret

   

When I think of the life I have lived so far there are so many regrets and things I would change. More often than not when I am lost in thought all I can do is replay these regrets in my mind. All the disappointment, fears, longing, heartbreak, and sadness. You name it and it's there and as much as I try to move on or get over it,  it's like a pesky mosquito who comes back and stings me again and again. I can hear the warning buzzing sound but even after I try to swat it away, one always finds a way to bite me.  After the bite, you live with the itch and soreness for days and before you know it you have more bites than you can deal with.  Regret can easily overcome you. 

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. see what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourself, what indignation, what alarm, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. (2 Corinthians 7: 10-11)

The worst thing about living in regret is that everything your regretting most of the time is something you wish you would have done differently, at least for me. 

Sometimes I can hear God whispering that if I would have done things differently I probably would not have the good things I currently have in my life.  So although I hate the sting of the mosquito of regret, I am also aware, its sting is its way to survive and they do it out of necessity and even the sting can be something positive. 

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:18-19")

I know that each decision I have made that I regret was made for a reason at that time and was done out of necessity or circumstance. Just like today and every day I need to make a choice to enjoy each day and not keep reliving past regrets.

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen. " (1 Peter 5:10-11) 

 

 

Where can God Park?

    Close to where I live is a local shopping center that services my neighborhood, most days the parking lot is full of people and their vehicles. For those that drive there is a rush when you pull into a parking lot and find that perfect spot or the lot is somewhat empty and you have the choice of spots.  Constantly throughout the day, the traffic is moving'  however once the stores are closed then the lot empties out. When this happens you can see all the stall lines drawn on the pavement, which probably took someone weeks to plan, where all those vehicles could go to use the space efficiently. 

Now imagine our life is laid out like a parking lot. Each morning we wake up and all the stalls of our day are empty and there is no traffic jam or congestion between; thoughts, people, priorities, work, animals, appointments, feelings, doubt, family, stress, failures, disappointments, events, etc...   

"You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24 - Contemporary English Version)

    Usually, we fill up our parking lot before we even leave the bed or house. It is so full we have no room to breathe or relax and those traffic jams continue through the day and sometimes become a pile-up where something or someone is waiting for a stall in your life to open up and there are none. 

"People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. (Romans 8:5 Contemporary English Version) 

How many times do you leave a parking stall open for time with God or with his word? Is he constantly in those traffic jams of your life, waiting for you to open a spot for him? While you fill your daily parking lot with other things. How long has your parking lot felt empty and lonely even though you have it stuffed to the rim with things? How long will you listen to God honking his horn for an open spot in your life,  before you open one up for him to park and leave it open as assigned parking to him?  

God's vehicle is one of peace, it is driven by your father in heaven. One who forgives your sins and holds no judgment, he can wash you clean. He alone should have access to the first spot each day. Once you open that spot for him and keep it open he will never leave. When your feeling congested in your day God will be in that parking spot you left open for him. He can help direct the other vehicle of your life so that those traffic jams can become less congested and so that your not parking in front of your failures and disappointment. Each day brings us a new opportunity to leave that spot open and make God a priority. 

"I am the vine, and you are the branches.  If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me.  If you don't stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire. (John 15: 5-6 Contemporary English Version)