Getting There Wasn’t Half the Fun

by Tim Keller, Lead Pastor

I was a newcomer to the idea of the GPS app on my phone giving me directions to my destination,  so you’ll understand why I decided to disregard it and find my way to where I was going on my own. After all, I had been there once before and I knew the best way to get there, or so I thought.

To make matters worse, the weather was turning bad with snow falling and beginning to impact the back roads I was planning on taking.

The first time I veered off the GPS designated path the computerized voice simply recalculated and informed me of an alternative route. When I drove past the second recommended turn the voice grew no louder and once again redirected me to what it thought was the most direct route. When it happened a third time, instead of turning around (I was already way too far beyond the recommended directions to merit turning around), I actually commented to myself that this GPS thing was really starting to get annoying.

Time after time it recommended a different route to get me where we both knew I wanted to get. Time after time I ignored the voice and continued driving the way I thought was best.

It was only after going 30 minutes out of my way that I realized that perhaps the old GPS had gotten it right after all and I should have followed the advice of the bodiless voice in my phone. I eventually arrived safely and late for the event I was attending, but when I got there I had a companion with whom I hadn’t started out. I had stress.

I was so sure that my way had been the right way . . . I had been totally wrong.

Too often I’ve been guilty of doing the exact same thing with God’s direction for my life. His bodiless voice (Holy Spirit) has often whispered His direction in my ear only to be ignored because I knew the best way to achieve the results I desired. Too often I have heard God’s Word lay out the perfect instructions for healthy relationships, quality ministry, and a successful ministry endeavor only to ignore them because I knew a better way to get there.

My event lasted just 24 hours and I got back to my car the next day needing not to return home, but to drive to a different location a couple of hours away. Once again I plugged in my phone and punched in the address to where I was heading, one I had never been to before, only this time I took a different approach. I listened carefully to the directions, dismissed any of my own ideas on how to get where I wanted to go, and follow the GPS directions precisely. I was determined not to make the same mistake again.

When we fail to follow God’s directions the first time around, His grace gives us a second chance to get it right. May we be wise enough to abandon our arrogant opinions about what is best and embrace the “never-lead-us-the-wrong-way” directions of our perfect God.
I believe that this year God is calling our church family to discover the reliable nature of Holy Spirit’s guidance and His 100% accurate direction. May we submit to Him and experience the blessing of arriving at the right place without all the stress that disobedience brings into our lives.