Life Maps

My parents used to keep a road atlas in a drawer in a table next to the sofa in our den.  It was big… maybe 15×18 inches.  Every time we went somewhere new, they were careful to pull it out of the drawer and to put it in the front seat of the car.  It was near the top of every vacation check list.

I doubt that my children know what a road atlas is. They use GPS.  Karen and I are somewhere in the middle.  We like Google Maps.

Maps.  Regardless of what form they take, every generation needs them.  How else would anyone arrive at an unknown destination?  Yes, maps are a necessary part of life. 

There have been times in my journey when I wanted a life map.  I wanted to know where I was going and how I would get there. In these times, lacking a life map, I would chart a course of my own. 

That meant establishing goals and working to accomplish those goals.  The route for my journey was from one goal to the next.  In so doing, however, reaching the next goal became the destination instead of a stop along the way.  It was a short sighted, stressful way to live.

More importantly, it is not the way God has designed the journey.  The book of Proverbs speaks to this.

                          Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
                             but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

                                                                         Proverbs 19:21(ESV)

                           The heart of man plans his way,
                             but the Lord establishes his steps.

 

                                                                        Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)                                                                        

The scriptures teach that God has a plan for our lives.  But it is his plan for our life.  All too often I have been guilty of creating my plan for God’s life.  That is, I decided what I wanted and, then, asked God to bless it.  That is not biblical.  Nowhere does the Bible encourage us to make goals for our life, other than becoming more like Jesus.  

So I am seeking to live more biblically. Instead of saying to God, “Get with the program so I can accomplish my next goal”, I am trying to live into his plan for me on a daily basis. 

Which changes the big question.  Instead of seeking God’s help to achieve my next goal, I now ask God to show me the next step.   Now my prayer is, “Show me what to do now.”  Really, I think it is all anyone can do. 

                            A man’s steps are from the Lord;
                              how then can man understand his way?

                                                                                    Proverbs 20:24 (ESV)

So I have given up charting a course for my life.  It never turned out like I thought anyway.