After some long work weeks leading up to Christmas due to weekend snow storms, I took advantage of the Christmas break and spent another day sightseeing with my family.  Page 363 was another “tankful adventure” as we filled up the truck’s gas tank to start the day and came back with it nearly empty.  The day included a variety of covered bridges, some interesting roads, and a hike with a few waterfalls.  About mid-morning we were tracking down a covered bridge using GPS coordinates from a source that has been very reliable so far.  After turning down Chicken Hollow Road, the next turn listed was to veer right onto Fox Hollow Road.  The names were enough to laugh about the fox guarding the hen house.  As we reached our turn, we found a limestone gravel road with an old, faded road sign on the corner indicating it was indeed Fox Hollow Road.  It didn’t look real promising so I drove past it to see if my GPS would recalculate a different route.  Instead of giving me a new route it told me to turn around, so I went back to try the road.  About 200 yards onto Fox Hollow Road there was a gate across the roadway, which usually is a good indication it is no longer a road. 🙂  So, back out to Chicken Hollow Road to keep driving until I’m far enough away from Fox Hollow Road for it to give me different directions.  Finally, about six miles down the road, my GPS quits telling me to “turn around when possible” and gives me new directions to the bridge we were looking for.

As I thought about that, I wondered how often we live by an internal “GPS” of our own creation that doesn’t always sync with the Holy Spirit who ought to be our guide.  The GPS in my truck can be very insistent that I follow its every direction even though it doesn’t always have compete and accurate information.  Many times we find ourselves at some type of “roadblock” in life and assume that our natural means of response is always the correct way to address the issue.  For most people I know, that means keep pushing forward no matter what.  Every “roadblock” is seen as a test of faith that simply requires perseverance to keep attacking it head-on with the belief that we have to be right so this has to be done.  Less common, at least in my experience, is the person who sees every “roadblock” in life as a sign that the course must be changed.  The path of least resistance becomes a way of life to the point that any hint of difficulty causes a change in direction.  There is a problem with both of those approaches.  Each, in its own way, ignores a God that wants to not only be involved in our lives but desires that we would seek all of our direction from Him.  Instead of giving in to our default response, we ought to seek God first when faced with a “roadblock” of any kind.  Sometimes He will lead us directly through the raging waters and other times He will direct us around the land of our enemies.  We won’t know which it is supposed to be until we stop and become still before Him as we listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd, which is known by all of His sheep.

Today’s photo is of a waterfall from today’s journey.  The beauty is astounding as the water is directed by God — sometimes cutting its way through the rock and sometimes flowing over it all according to His design.  Our life can be just as beautiful when we allow God to direct its path according to His design.

I pray that you and I would find a balance in life that honors God.  I pray that we would seek Him above all else.  I pray that we would understand how our natural tendencies may not be God’s solution to every problem we face — in fact, our wisdom may not be the solution to any of them.  I pray that we would live surrendered to God in such a way that He directs each and every one of our steps.