Psalm 26:9-10
“God leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.”
Years ago we were traveling from Montana to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We stopped for coffee at Buffalo, Wyoming and then hopped on the freeway for the five and a half hour drive to our daughter’s home for dinner. We were right on schedule!
We started planning a big project that was upcoming and the traffic was good. Then suddenly we saw a sign announcing Sundance, Wyoming. Wait a moment! That’s not on Interstate 25! We discovered that at Buffalo the Interstate makes a junction with I 25 going south, and I 90 continuing east which is where we found ourselves! We had gone over two hours due east.
With a quick exit at Sundance, we checked our map (before GPS) and found a route we could take. Then we called Julie. We had lost those two hours with still over five hours to go and now we were not on schedule.
That so defines our lives. Sometimes we just lose our way. We are preoccupied with “things”, which are often very important projects or responsibilities, and we suddenly find we have ignored other things that are also valuable—the way we know we must take in order to reach our goal.
Praise God that we found another route that would bring us to our destination. Praise God that Julie and her family were willing to wait for us and even waited to have dinner with us! Praise God that when we get distracted or off-course, God puts up signs to warn us, maps to help us correct our ways, and then is always waiting for our arrival back on course with God! Praise God for the 10 Commandments to aid us in our journey of life.
Prayer: Holy Spirit of God, you show us how to walk in your ways but sometimes we stray off course. Forgive us. Thank you also, for alerting us to the way we should go and helping us get back on-track. Amen.
Song: “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me” ELW 755
Jesus, Savior, pilot me,
Over life’s tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treach’rous shoal;
Chart and compass came from Thee:
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
As a mother stills her child,
Thou canst hush the ocean wild;
Boist’rous waves obey Thy will
When Thou say’st to them, “Be still!”
Wondrous Sov’reign of the sea,
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
When at last I near the shore,
And the fearful breakers roar
’Twixt me and the peaceful rest,
Then, while leaning on Thy breast,
May I hear Thee say to me,
“Fear not, I will pilot thee.”