Auto Pilot, GPS, and the Road Less Traveled

Have you ever gotten in your car and started on your way to go somewhere and completely missed where you were suppossed to turn because it was different from your normal routine?   I have even said, "I must have been traveling on auto pilot." when this has happened.  There are times that we become so used to our routine, our comfort zone, that even when we try to change it up, we tend to still travel on auto pilot.

I was blown away last night and this morning, (I went to church 2 times this week), when the pastor said, "The path that you are on determines your destination."  Duh!!!  This is so simple yet so profound.  I, myself have been guilty of relying on good intentions.  I have made lists, joined webistes, visualized a positive outcome, and even prayed.  (Right now, I am mainly thinking about the weight and health issues in my life.)  

The reality is no matter what you punch into the GPS if you don't turn right when it says turn right and just go on auto pilot you will not reach your desired destination.  However, the great thing about GPS is, when you don't turn when it tells you to, it recalibrates. 

When I was younger and would go camping with my dad, he would always get up early each morning and take a walk.  I would sometimes go with him.  As we were walking through the woods we would usually take a path that was there from the many other people who had walked the same way.  That path or trail  made it easier to walk through the woods. 

Once I got on one of these paths not knowing that is was a bazillion miles long, and I would be walking forever.  I did not check the sign at the beginning of the path to see where I would end up.  That kind of lends itself to the "How did I get here?" theory.  We have to pay attention in life.  Just because I didn't read the sign it didn't change the destination of the path. 

Just think, if I had had a cell phone with GPS.  (They didn't have cell phones when I was a child, so it would have had to have been a compass.) It could have recalibrated my course and I could have gotten off of that path.  The trip through the woods may have been difficult beacuse there wasn't a well worn path that had been trampled down by all of those who had gone before me.  And, I may have had to struggle a bit, but I would have been able to reach my desired destination.

God and His word are like a GPS.  He knows the final destination and recalibrates for us when we get off track.  And, sometimes the journey is difficult.  But, all we have to do is turn and follow the path that he has laid out for us and we will end up where we should.  I am just thankful that it is never too late to recalibrate.

Toby Mac: Get Back Up

We lose our way,

We get back up again

Never too late to get back up again,

One day, you gonna shine again,

You may be knocked down but not out forever,

Lose our way, we get back up again,

So get up, get up

Strength Will Rise

I went to a political red tape kind of meeting the other night.  We went into it with a, "God can do anything" kind of feeling.  We were riding high on community spirit.  We all had high hopes as to what the outcome of the meeting would be.  

When we lay our petitions before the Lord and ask something of Him, we always seem to expect a yes.  When we don't get a yes, we sometimes become angry or restless.  We wonder what went wrong, or why did God not answer my prayer.  

It is easy to forget that there are three answers to a request: yes, no, and wait.  Let us not loose sight of the fact that God is in control.  Maybe His answer right now is wait.  Unfortunately, we only see what is right in front of us.  We don't have a God view of the situation.  Maybe there is something that God is trying to teach us.  

God has not forsaken us or this project.  Things will turn out just the way that God wants them to.  We just need to continue to lay our requests before Him and pray that his will be done in this situation and in His timing.  

This song has been runing through my head for the last few days, and I think that it sums up what I have been feeling.

Everlasting God

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Our God, You reign forever

Our hope, our strong deliverer.

You are the everlasting God,

The everlasting God.

You do not faint,

You won't grow weary.

You're the defender of the weak,

You comfort those in need,

You lift us up on wings like eagles.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Our God, You reign forever

Our hope, our strong deliverer.

You are the everlasting God,

The everlasting God.

You do not faint,

You won't grow weary.

You're the defender of the weak,

You comfort those in need,

You lift us up on wings like eagles.

You are the everlasting God,

The everlasting God,

The everlasting God,

The everlasting...

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord,

wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.

The Lord is the everlasting God,

The creator of all the Earth,

He never grows weak or weary,

No one can measure the depths of His understanding,

He gives power to the weak, and strength to the powerless,

Even youth will become weak and tired,

And young men will fall in exhaustion,

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength,

They will soar high on wings like eagles,

They will run and not grow weary,

They will walk and not faint,

New Year's Resolutions

What is it with New Year's Resolutions?  Why do I hate them so?  My husband and I went out to dinner on New Year's Eve and he asked me what my resolutions are  for this year. I said something lame trying not to really give it too much thought, and then I quickly asked him his.

Yesterday I wanted to post a blog about my New Year's Resolutions or maybe my Goals for the New Year.  They would all be about how I was going to do this and this and that better this year, including keeping up with this blog.  It would be symbolic, 1-1-11, posting on the first day of the new year.  I just couldn't seem to do it.  I've already missed an opportunity to make a change to my ways and it is January 2nd.  I might as well forget it, right?  Oh well another resolution gone by the wayside.


Then, I was watching the news this morning and they we already polling their viewing audience about who has broken their New Year's Resolutions and why.  For crying out loud, it's only January 2nd.   Don't they have anything better to discuss on the news than people's shortcomings in the new year.  One of the viewers said that they had made a resolution to stop swearing so much, but then they stubbed their toe and . . . Oh well.  This got me to thinking.  I tend to put off making New Year's Resolutions and I began to wonder why.  Is it because they are dumb, or nobody really takes them seriously, or is it because I'm afraid to make a commitment to stick to anything in my life; even if it is just a silly tradition that doesn't really mean much? Does every resolution come with a get out of jail free card? 
 
Of course I had to consult the expert.  I went to Webster.com (Who uses a real dictionary anymore?) to see what a resolution really is.  Wow, there sure are a lot of definitions for resolution most of which have nothing to do with trying to eat less, exercise more, and solve global warming (if there is such a thing).  Resolution: (n) something that is resolved, firmness of resolve.  Great, let's look up resolve.  Resolve:  (v) to reach a firm decision about, marked by firm determination, and fixity of purpose.  Now we are talking.  I also consulted the synonyms (words that mean the same. "s" for same "s" for synonym.  Clever right?) and antonyms (words that are opposite.  No clever way to remember this one.)  Synonyms:  do-or-die, firm, intent, purposeful, set, single-minded, granite, and my personal favorite stick-to-itiveness.  Antonyms:  faltering, hesitant, indecisive, undetermined, vacillating, wavering.

Of course being the over achiever that I can sometimes be, (I said sometimes) I had to look up the word firm as well.  Firm:  (adj) not weak or uncertain, not easily moved or disturbed, well-founded, steadfast.  Okay, I also looked up well-founded.  I think I have an addiction to Webster.com.  Well-founded:  (adj) based on excellent reasoning, information, judgement or grounds.

So now I know more about resolutions than the average Joe.  Why don't I ever want to make one?  I think because deep down I have always known what a resolution is.  Did you see those strong words: firm, steadfast, set, single-minded?  One year I said to Eric we should make goals for the new year.  You don't "break" a goal.  I think that's it.  If you don't reach a goal, you can just modify it.  It is all very touchy feely.  There is no failure, just modification.  I knew it then and feel like if I "break" a resolution, I have failed.  For me this is the worst four letter "f" word in the English language. 

I did a lot of keyword searches for steadfast, firm and the like in the bible, but I will elaborate on those another day.  I have been side-tracked while authoring this post.  I asked a serious question of why and got an answer right here while typing at the keyboard that I would like to further explore.  Sometimes we (I) become so focused upon all of the ways that we can fail at something, we never do anything.  I think that has been me many times in my life.  I spend so much time researching, safeguarding, question asking, contingency planning, and fearing the worst, that I never just do it.  The opportunity passes or the urge is suppressed.  I am 43 years old and I am never going to be a rock star. (Why am I crying at my computer? Weird huh?)

I found this passage (God lovingly led me to it.) while looking through scripture today:

Romans 4:18-21
18 When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!" 19 Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. 20 He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, 21 sure that God would make good on what he had said. (The Message)

Here is my RESOLUTION: I will stop being fearful of failure and start doing something.

Lord help me to plunge into your promise so that I can come up strong, ready for God