Are you following your GPS (God Positional System)?

Are you following your GPS (God Positional System)?

Have you ever had to follow someone in the car to a destination? If the person says, “follow me” you presume that he or she knows exactly where they are going. You have confidence in their ability to lead you safely on a driving journey to your destination. We follow people, directional road signs as well as the latest fashion trends and fad diets without much thought or hesitation, don’t we?

My husband recently gave me the wonderful gift of a GPS system since I have no inherent sense of direction. I now trust and follow the voice of a stranger with a British accent to navigate my every turn so that I can arrive home safely! Whose voice are you tuned into? Whom are you following?

For the first twenty-eight years of my life I was not finely tuned into hearing God’s voice. In fact, a better way to say it is that I tuned God out completely. I am so grateful for a loving God who never gave up on me and worked in my life even through the seasons of disobedience. In 1996, I professed my faith in Jesus Christ and have been learning day by day to know Him and to follow Him. Friends, we are all on a journey with Christ, never arriving at the destination, as God always has more in store for us. He is asking us to follow Him to a place beyond our comprehension at present. God has already chartered your course. He has a plan. Are you willing to say to Jesus, “lead on, I will follow?”

There have been times in my life when I have felt an undeniable nudge from Jesus to get up and go follow Him. I must admit I too often respond like the man walking along the road who encountered Jesus in Luke 9:61. He said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." I have too many “but firsts” which impede my following and going beyond with Jesus. Sometimes it’s fear which paralyzes my ability to move forward on the journey. At other times, I simply fail to walk in faith and ask God for more information before I’ll take the first step. However, these verses from Isaiah speak deeply to me: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Jesus is on the move and is constantly doing a new thing! I want to perceive it and go beyond.

Over the past several years God has asked me to go far beyond my comfort zone. He called me to leave my profession to follow Him and serve on the staff team in Children’s Ministry. He called me to follow Him and to trust Him with difficult medical decisions, not once – but twice, which ultimately brought about healing. He called me to serve on the mission field in the Dominican Republic this past October to serve kids and the church of Monte Cristi. He is now calling me to follow Him on a return mission trip to Monte Cristi. My relationship with Jesus is deeper and richer than I could have ever imagined. I will follow Him wherever He leads me and I will journey with Him to infinity and beyond.

What is your next step or leap? I pray that you will listen for the gentle whisper or sense the tap on the shoulder from Jesus. Do you not perceive it? “Come, follow me.”