Staying on Course
My East Texas family was in high gear last weekend. They had been working diligently at their newly acquired eight acres just down the road from where their 62 acres of land at Epiphany Ranch is located. This new parcel of land will be home to one of their team members and her family. In addition, the land will potentially be home to their Hope House where women will find respite, hope, and healing.
My friend and I made the trip there to celebrate yet another milestone in Larry and Staci’s vision. They are big dreamers, big thinkers and big movers and shakers! I continue to be amazed at their zeal and determination to continue building so relentlessly for God’s Kingdom.
I rely on my GPS system to get me where I’m going. It is mostly two-lane roads to Alto and we made it there without a hitch. However, something went hay-wire on our return trip and my GPS system took us a completely different path home. And, BTW, thank God for alerting us in a town with a gas station when we needed gas ASAP!
I remember paper road maps that helped us navigate to our destinations. Thank God for the advent of technology and GPS systems. I remember, as a child, loving to hold one of those paper maps and follow along the roads that my daddy was driving.
I was promoted to being the navigator, using the Atlas Map Books, as my husband and I and our ministry team traveled the U.S. and Canada. My navigating skills were tested to the core as my husband’s co-pilot and navigator in our Cessna 182 airplane.
Flying took mapping to a whole new level as we had all kinds of other considerations besides roads: weather, wind velocity, ground landmarks, rivers, mountains.
If only we would be as attentive to the road map aka the Bible, that God gave us for our lives. The Bible is the Word of God, written down by those individuals who were inspired by Him.
The texts are about us and our lives, even though they are thousands of years old. Every time that we read or hear scriptures from the Bible, God speaks to us and touches us in a new way. Of course, the Bible’s most important message is God’s love for every person, including you and me.
The Bible has been my “end all” in all the ups and downs of life. It has never failed me. God speaks directly to us as we read those words that are His promises to us.
Today, we can google scriptures on our laptops or phones. We have the cure to what ails us in life. It is found in our Road Map called “The Bible”. God’s Word points us to the best roads and places of insight and illumination so that God’s Spirit can shine His Light into our minds and hearts. And that “road map” NEVER needs updating.
In John 15:7 we find these instructions: “If you abide in Me, and My WORDS abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
Satisfaction is guaranteed when our GPS system is God’s Word: “Your WORD is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105