Hebrews 11: 1 (NLT) Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Faith is patiently believing and trusting in what we cannot see. It is believing that God has a plan and purpose for our lives and that he will guide our path if we are willing to take his direction.
A couple of years ago, Patrick and I took a road trip along the California coast. We traveled south on the 101 and when we crossed the San Francisco Golden Gate bridge, we took a wrong turn and ended up in the heart of San Francisco, instead of the 101 coast route. We were lost. We looked at our map and found a location we recognized on the 101 route. We loaded the location into the GPS and started following the directions provided from the woman's voice in the computer.
The GPS took us up and down many streets in San Francisco, through some nice and not so nice neighborhoods and at one point we started to doubt and question the accuracy of the GPS. One time we turned the opposite direction from how we were instructed and we were quickly told to turn around. It took us over an hour (it seemed longer) to wind our way through the streets of the city by the bay, but eventually we ended up back on track and our journey south on the beautiful California coast continued.
At first we were upset and frustrated that we had made the wrong turn and that we had lost so much precious time on our journey. Soon our frustration turned to a sense of adventure and we saw beautiful architecture and explored neighborhoods that we would not have seen, had we stayed on our chartered course. We had been so focused on OUR plan and on the destination that we almost missed what turned out to be a great and unexpected experience. One we will never forget.
Sometimes I think of God as a GPS for our lives. You may have heard this analogy before, but it is one that resonated with me. We chart plans and paths for our lives, but for most of us things don't always go according to plan. I believe that God allows these detours and difficulties even though they frustrate and discourage us, for reasons that we may not understand at the time. If we put our trust in him, he will protect us and perhaps even take us to places we never dreamed we could go. I have learned that detours are adventures and even though it is very difficult at times, I do my best to embrace and learn from the experience. Stay in faith. There are no coincidences in life.
I invite you to share your experiences of faith and thank you for being here with me.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
