How do you feel about your GPS? Most days I love ours until something happens to remind me it isn’t infallible. Like the day Donn and I decided to ask “Sam” (short for Samantha) to direct us to Walmart on a cross-country trip. As we wound our way deeper and deeper into the boondocks, my trust level dipped to an all-time low. Finally, Sam chirped, “Arriving at Walmart, on your right.” There was absolutely nothing on our right, and certainly not a Walmart! Spurning Sam’s help, we relied on Donn’s sense of direction to get us back to civilization.

Then there was the day we went antiquing in Myrtle Beach, depending solely on Sam to find the shops. Repeatedly, she took us to places that gave no indication of ever having been antique shops. The last straw came when she guided us directly to the locked gates of a gated community! It was a disappointing end to our hopes of spending a leisurely afternoon enjoying antiques.

These experiences paled, however, when compared to a newspaper headline I read in a devotional recently, “Man Follows GPS Directions and Drives Car into River.” Wow! We’ve had some bad experiences with our GPS but nothing this drastic. The driver of the car was on an unfamiliar road, traveling at night in the fog. “He believed the GPS directions were correct, unaware that the unfamiliar road ahead ended in disaster.” (The Upper Room)

As important as it is to have good directions to find a given destination when we travel, how much more important it is to have trustworthy instructions to discovering God’s will for our lives. Following wrong or incomplete guidance can end in disaster. Years ago I read about a woman whose dog loved to lie at her feet. But every time she stood up, the dog dashed to the bottom of the stairs, assuming that’s where she was going. One day she told him, “If you want to be with me, you’ll have to learn to follow me.”

She cringed as she heard what she’d said. “Lord, please don’t tell me I’m like this foolish dog!” But as she thought of the many times she’d waited to hear only part of what God was saying before she “dashed to the bottom of the stairs,” she knew He was right. Proverbs 19:21 says, “There are many devices (schemes) in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.”

I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t take me long to come up with a good idea. But if we’re serious about following Jesus, we have to discover whether the “good ideas” we have are just that, or whether they’re “God ideas.” II Corinthians 5:15 says, And (Jesus) died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

The same day I read about the “Misguided GPS,” I also read the following from another devotional: Discovering God’s will is an ongoing adventure with rewards along the way. His Word is our map for the journey, and the Holy Spirit is our guide, who provides ‘road signs’ as we travel. (In Touch) Much more dependable than a GPS!

How are things going in your life journey? Did following a “Faulty GPS” leave you in the “boondocks” or in front of a locked gate? If you’ve been living your life for yourself rather than for the One who died for you, it’s not too late to change. Jesus is waiting for you to “make of your body a living sacrifice*,” (Romans 12:1-2) so that He can live His life through you. You can begin the exciting adventure of discovering His plan for your life with His Word for your map and the Holy Spirit for your guide.

Heavenly Father, Forgive us when we forget that we are not our own, that we are bought with a price. Help us glorify you in our bodies (I Corinthians 6:19-20). Amen.

*My definition of “making of your body a living sacrifice:” Being willing to do anything He asks you to do, go anywhere He asks you to go, and be anything He asks you to be.