Do you ever pull our your smart phone and look up where the little blue dot is in relation to the map around it to help answer the question “Where am I?” Most men get along fairly well without this through most of the day unless we are in unfamiliar territory. Even then, when the GPS voice tells us to head somewhere else, we may question it and keep going as it is recalculating. The other extreme is to trust the GPS voice completely and follow it no matter what, which can led to some disastrous results that make the headlines. Do you check in with others to help you get your bearings on where you are in life? Who do you trust as you make your way through each day?
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
What guides you through the day? Do you have an agenda to start out and try to keep to that as best you can or do you go with the flow and react to things as they present to you? Or maybe a combination of these mixed in with a pound of other distractions. Anymore, there are a number of things that can distract us or lead us off our original planned course as we go through each day, and as we go through life. If we asked your 19 year old self what you would be doing when you were 25 or 50 years old, do you think you would be close? We all probably had some big hopes and dreams for our lives when we were younger. Life doesn’t always turn out how we plan, but may be better or worse depending on how we look at it, and is often a mix of both. Sometimes it may be good to stop and look back and look forward to get an idea of where you are along the dash of your life.
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? I Corinthians 3:16
How often are we aware of God’s presence in our lives? Do we look to Him or acknowledge Him just on Sunday mornings or when we encounter extreme challenges in our lives, or are we reminded of His presence in little things throughout our days? Often when I pause to look at a sunset, thunderclouds building, or even a tiny creature crawling through creation, I am reminded of his presence as much as in worship on Sundays. Creation cries out all day long, but often we are too busy to see or hear it. When we use some available God positioning systems (GPS) in our lives, it is much easier to see and hear God in our lives and be attentive to his Spirit. Time spent in the Word and in prayer rarely returns empty. These and other spiritual disciplines are done to help orient our GPS and keep us connected to our Creator.
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. John 15:19
Where are you? Where do you fit in on the other pale blue dot of Earth? Trying to take in where we are on this planet and even further out from the grandness of the Universe can be quite humbling when you try to grasp it all and your role in it. Staying connected to God helps us understand our small place in time, yet how much we are valued by Him. That he would choose to use whatever talents we have been blessed with to make a difference in this world, magnified a thousand times more than we can know. Stopping to look at our little spot on the blue dot helps us keep a proper perspective on our place in this world and with God.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
Strength and Courage in Christ,
Clark
