Listening for Directions Article on Threads

An article I wrote called “Listening for Directions But Still Enjoying the Journey” is running this week on the Threads website. Check it out and while you’re there be sure and admire the site redesign they just launched this last month. Jacob, the Threads Internet Producer, and Heather Manning, their graphic designer, did a great job in the latest iteration of their presence online.

I had the privilege of working with the Threads team for a couple of years while at LifeWay in Nashville. GREAT group of people doing amazing stuff. I would highly recommend anything that is coming out of that team. I was in the unique position of being on staff at a church part-time as a young adults pastor while working with the Threads team helping churches minister to young adults. Good times.

Here’s an excerpt from the article (it’s based on an earlier post on the blog, so some of it might sound familiar for those of you who have been around here for awhile):

This past year I sprung and bought a small GPS unit for my wife to use in our van. She had seen our real estate agent using one while looking for homes in Atlanta and thought it would be life-saving with us once we moved there.

Honestly, I’m not sure how we lived without GPS. Whenever we have somewhere new to go, we punch in the address, and then sit back and relax - trusting that the girl in the box will tell us when and where to turn. Before we know it we’ve arrived - without having to squint to read street signs or worry about getting turned around.

At least that’s the way it is supposed to work. What we are finding, though, is that there are a few times that the GPS fails us. We either punch in the address and blindly follow it to a location that no longer exists, or the destination is so new that our one-year-old mapping software in the GPS doesn’t know about it yet.

It hit me the other day that I need to treat God like a GPS unit, and less like a back seat driver. In fact, I don’t think He is even a ‘co-pilot’ or a chauffeur because He hasn’t taken over the wheel completely. Not only is He interested in where we are going, He is also interested in which route we take during the journey to our destination. I don’t have to worry about maps being outdated or God not knowing where I am supposed to go. I just need to listen.

More times than not, however, I fail to listen. There are other times when I hear His directions and decide that I know a better way to go.

Read the full article here: “Listening for Directions But Still Enjoying the Journey” (Threads)

Posted 11.21.2008

Sorry. Commenting is no longer available for this post. In most cases, you may leave comments up to 30 days from the time a post is published.