Map? or Mapquest?

On our summer trip to the mountains, I was the self-appointed navigator with my road atlas at hand. You know how men are about asking for directions.

As we got closer to Atlanta, Craig asked me where we would exit I-75. For a moment, I studied the map of the metro area. Confusion filled my mind. Uh-oh. This was the same place I got mixed up on this trip last year. The map in my atlas wasn’t showing the exit I remembered.

And I had forgotten to print out the Mapquest directions that we had used last year.

(Can I just insert here that I absolutely abhor driving in and around cities the size of Atlanta? I’d personally rather drive 200 miles out of the way than drive the interstate system around Atlanta. I tried to convince Craig to take 441 all the way to North Carolina, but the look he gave me would shrivel a Georgia peach right off the branch.)

Craig listened to me whine all the way around Atlanta and I finally breathed a sigh of relief when we merged onto the familiar road that would lead us through northeast Georgia and into North Carolina.

Frankly, I was a bit miffed at the road atlas. Why was it wrong? I’ve heard that every map must contain at least one mistake; that way the owner of the copyright will be able to identify his map. But why did this mistake have to be in Atlanta, of all places? Probably the worst place in the entire world to drive. Seemed to me they could put their intentional error in a less lethal place on the map.

Rather miffed himself, Craig casually drawled “just how old is that map you are looking at?”

Oh. I hadn’t thought about that.

Half-hearted, I leafed through the pages at the front of the atlas. Briefly, I thought about distracting him and changing the subject. But I looked at him … and laughed instead. He already knew.

© 1990.

Just a little out-dated.

As I settle into the fifth decade of my time on this planet, I’ve been pondering what my next thirty-or-so years will hold.

It would be very nice to have a map of my future. At least just the high points. Will my cabin in the mountains be there? Will anything I write ever be published? Will my husband and I remain healthy and thoroughly enjoy our senior years together? What will our grandkids be like? Will our youngest be a missionary in a third-world country?

But I guess knowing all that now would kinda dull the edge of the anticipation - the excitement and hopeful promise of the unknown.

What I do know about my future is that I will follow Christ all the rest of my days. While I don’t know exactly where my footsteps will fall, or exactly how He will use me in His Kingdom, I have an accurate map to follow.

I don’t have to check mapquest because this map is always accurate. Never needs updating. Works the same today as it did when my grandparents were growing up. And it will still point the true way one hundred years from now.

His Word never changes. The truths held there in are timeless because the Author of Truth is timeless. It has the answer for all of life’s questions, crises and problems.

God’s Word is the Mapquest for our lives: His Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path (Ps 119:105). Just enough light for our next step. I guess it wouldn’t require a whole lot of faith to follow Him if we could see into the future. One step at a time keeps us dependent on and trusting Him.

Remember when you were little and your daddy told you “I have a surprise for you!”?

In Jeremiah 29:11, He says “I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

If my earthly daddy’s surprise was wonderful, I suspect that my Heavenly Father’s surprise is gonna be out of this world!