I happen to be a directionally challenged driver so I usually set my GPS take me to a destinations I visited infrequently. This one morning though I was familiar with the exit and all the exact turns thereafter to arrive so I didn’t turn it on. As I cruised at a steady speed through medium traffic and listened to my favorite worship radio station my mind drifted to the list of things I had planned out for the day. Vehicle maintenance appointment, hair appointment, library stop, groceries, evening bible study…
Suddenly I was jolted out of autopilot mode when unexpected road construction came into view.
Instinctively I glanced at the GPS monitor and upon realizing it wouldn’t help in sleep mode I began to quickly assess my options. The first was to quickly change lanes. The second was to go straight and pass up my closed exit, drive a few miles to the next exit and backtrack. I was running late so I definitely didn’t want to waste time going farther than I needed to. The second option however resulted in instant panic because the cutoff was approaching and after flipping on my turn signal and glancing at my side mirror to make the lane change the drivers in the lane to my right weren’t opening up space for me to slide in.
The thing is…I shouldn’t have panicked. My car is equipped with Side Blind Zone Alert system that tells me when I am clear to change lanes. In that instant it was not giving me an alert which meant that the system was telling me I would be safe. My own perception and emotions however were telling me that it was not a safe move and that if I did I’d end up in a deadly collision.
Fear grew as the cut off came closer and closer when I made the last second decision to trust my car’s alert system. I moved over while simultaneously praying I wasn’t going to get hit and embracing for a collision. Well, I’m glad to say that not only did I not get hit but the transition between lanes was like the Israelites walking through the parted Red Sea. Smooth and miraculous.
Reflecting on this moment I wondered:
How many times did unexpected situations arise that brought out our fear of a worst-case scenarios instead of trust in God’s directions?
When I made decisions based on fears, what was at the root of that fear?
When I’m making plans wether for a normal day or a big decision, am I leaving room for God to cut in or change my path so that His purpose is fulfilled in my life?
Proverbs 19:21 says “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” God never promises that walking out our faith is easy or that we’ll walk in comfortable or familiar paths but instead that His purposes will be fulfilled in our lives. This doesn’t mean that the plans we make to accomplish what we desire don’t matter. He already knows our deepest desires and has already brought them into account in His plans. The question is…do we trust Him?
Every day of our walk we should making progress to trust Him more because He knows what construction sites are ahead of us and has already prepared a solution so that we get where He needs us to be.
What about you?
What fears are you experiencing that are preventing you from changing lanes?
Prayer: Lord thank you for allowing me the freedom to plan out my days but today I ask for you to reveal to me when there is fear in trusting you to make changes that you have set before me. Show me where the root cause of this fear is coming from. Wether it be from at painful memory in my past, a scary news story I heard somewhere, someone else’s experience or a subconscious negative thought pattern that has taken up residence in my heart. Expose the fears, the lie underneath them and replace them with faith and trust in you. In Jesus’ name, Amen
