Do you need a guide for Navigating the Back Roads of Life?

Over the last month, our family has spent a lot of time driving from our home which is about an hour north of Dallas to my mother-in-love’s home in San Antonio. Now when you look at a map this is a pretty straight shot via Highway 75 and Highway 35; that’s it! Barring any terrible traffic mishaps it should take about 5 hours.  Taking the “back roads” supposedly adds about 45-minutes to the jaunt! Supposedly!

I have always been amazed at my husband Fred and my sister Anita’s ability to navigate the back roads of Texas to reach their destinations. I, on the other hand, have no sense of direction whatsoever and would be hard-pressed to tell you whether I was facing north or east or south or west at any given time.

I am also GPS – Gullible, (im)Patient, & yet Suspicious – of computerized map systems!

We spent precious hours visiting Mama Jo, helping take care of her, doing odd jobs for family members, reminiscing, and making sure her last days were as comfortable as possible. We celebrated the end of her life over a period of months and weeks, and then we celebrated fully the beginning of her life with the Lord on this first Sunday in July. On our way home I followed Fred, but engaged my MapQuest GPS just in case I lost sight of him on those “back roads”.

Do you talk back to your GPS “voice”?  For an hour out of San Antonio the MapQuest computer voice asked me to make a U-turn every 2 miles:

“Make a U-turn at Main Street;

make a U-turn at Frontage Road;

make a U-turn at Bob’s Road…”

I’m by myself in the car saying, “What?”  “A U-turn?”  “Am I lost?”  Five hours later as we went through the remote city of Cleburne, my MapQuest voice asked me to make right and left and U-turns for at least 30 minutes before “she” finally gave up and began to reroute me on Highway 51. Obscure Highway 51.

Can you relate to these frustrations?  Please tell me I am not alone!

I felt sure that at any given moment this little voice was going to start screaming and screeching at me,

“Have you lost your mind?
Are you purposefully trying to become lost?
How am I supposed to get you home when you won’t listen to the directions I am giving you?”

Now, I feel like screaming at the “voice” who won’t respond unless it is to tell me make another U-turn or at Fred in the car in front of me.  After all he is the one who got us into this back road debacle!

Christ says,

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” – Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)

In spite of ourselves and our purposeful attempts to navigate our own paths, God offers us clear navigation; there is only one way to spend eternity with Him and that is through belief in His Son Jesus Christ – in His life, in His death on the cross, and in His resurrection and preparation of a place for us.

Mama Jo knew this straight and narrow path well and nephew Joseph communicated this course clearly in her celebration services. She desired to go home and knew that she had chosen the right way; the one navigable path. And yet even though she desired and requested that her suffering be short and that the pain be limited, she lingered for some time in discomfort. Her loved ones encouraged her with songs, Scripture readings, by spending time with her and assuring her that the day would surely come when she would be wrapped in the arms of Jesus. The path of suffering was less clear cut. And all we could do was encourage her to live through this journey in a way that brought God glory and honor. And this she did.

I am grateful for the way Mama Jo embraced my family and folded us into her own.  I am grateful for her unwavering faith and enduring patience and her testimony to the Lord that showed us the non-negotiable Way.

I am slowly learning that God has a purpose for the back road experiences of my life and that He is there – The Sufficient Navigator on a path of inspiration and insight that brings Him Glory and Honor.

May God give us strength for this life’s journey through the end.  May He make us to see the straight path He has set before us.

Seek Inspiration and Insight!