I recently wrote a memoir piece about unforgettable childhood vacations.  It brought to mind the challenges of mapping a trip.  Fifty years ago, car and phone navigation were nonexistent.  We utilized paper maps (insert gasp here).  You would stop at the auto club or a travel agent to purchase a map for the specific area where your adventure would take place. The hope was that roads hadn’t changed too dramatically since the printing of the map!  Once the map was in-hand, the actual route determination was pieced together.  It gets even better!  There was a scale on the map’s legend.  Mileage was calculated by measuring trip segment lengths and manually calculating those the distances into miles based on the scale.  Not completely accurate, give or take a few miles.

Now, we have navigation built into our phones and our cars.  It’s as easy as keying in a starting and ending location.  Seemly instantly, distance and time, based on traffic conditions is calculated.  The systems are even smart enough to offer varying routes and many will go as far as suggesting re-routes as unexpected traffic delays arise.  Humorously, I find sometimes the voice of the GPS unit doesn’t provide directions quick enough; yet, the reality that we have such a tool which determines our whereabouts, is mind-boggling.

Navigation involves trust.  Whether it was the old-school method of map reading by the navigator in the passenger seat or listening to the mechanical voice on our electronic systems, trust is key.  How much do you trust the person next to you to get you to your destination?  They do have a buy-in considering they’re going to the same place!  However, the artificial intelligence voice on the car’s system couldn’t care less if you got to your destination, and yet, we rely on them like they were gospel.  There are stories of people dedicated to their GPS to the point of driving into a lake, to the edge of a cliff, into a sandpit, etc.  A little wisdom would have gone a long way in these situations.

How are you mapping the trajectory of your life?  Are you relying on others to direct your way?  Are you mapping out your route by careful measuring and calculating? Or have you given up planning your course and have left the direction to be determined by wherever the wind takes you?  Haphazard leads to a lot of U-turns and unnecessary miles.  Wasted fuel and squandered time just isn’t efficient in a finite lifetime.  Likewise, are you trusting others – what you listen to, what you read, TikTok’s watched, social media influencers, etc. – to determine what you think, choices you make and how you present yourself?  Seemingly, these would all be daily navigation tools influencing our direction.  What’s driving you? 

Hopefully, wisdom supersedes all.  Discernment and common sense are skills we need to hone regularly.  Where does our help come from?  For me, it is my faith. Psalm 121 says God will watch over my comings and my goings and He protects me on my journey.  If I feel like my direction has strayed, prayer brings me back to home.  I can trust my Jesus as the greatest navigator.  I never have to worry about the directions not coming fast enough, nor do I have to battle with the refolding of the map!