Wrong Directions

Wrong Directions

My husband grew up in New Zealand and moved to Australia as a young man. We had visited New Zealand twenty five years ago and we had not been back since, until several weeks ago. Our nephew was getting married and an invitation to attend the wedding came our way. With great excitement we planned our trip. We would spend one week with our family and we would spend one week touring the south Island. Two of our three adult daughters would be able to fly over at different times and would also meet up with the family for the wedding. For months before the trip I was busy planning with military precision where we would stay, where we would visit and printing maps off Google Maps NZ. This was going to save $75 on hiring a GPS to go with the car hire. Finally the day arrived and we landed at Christchurch airport, joyfully our nephew and his family met us, and we were able to hire our car and locate our accommodation with ease. The city had changed considerably since my husband had lived there, with the added transformation of  large portions of the city’s major buildings having disappeared in the earthquake of 2011. His sense of direction was gone. We were reliant on my printed google maps. 

On our first full day in Christchurch we planned to drive thirty minutes out of the city into the picturesque country side to a small town to visit another nephew and his family. Our youngest daughter had already flown in the previous week and she was enjoying staying at their house. With trusty google maps in hand and the directions written down on how to get from our accommodation to their house, we set off down Blenheim road, a main road in town. None of the directions seemed to match up with the streets we were seeing. Where was the round about we were meant to turn at? Where was the road we were meant to go down? Up and down a several mile section of Blenheim road we drove. We ventured off in the general direction of the country town that was to be our destination but we quickly returned to the familiar area just outside our accommodation. 

We decided to return to where we were staying and take a second look at google maps. Sure enough, when we double checked, we discovered that I had typed in the wrong street number for our addressWon. I had typed in 103 Blenheim road when it should have been 308. I had placed our location  on the wrong side of the road several miles away. As a result none of the directions in the very beginning for getting from Blenheim road to the road that led to the country town were accurate when we tried to follow them.

It made me ponder about God and His word. When I pick up God’s Word it gives me the directions for life. It shows me the path to take and the destination that is mine. Do I come to the Bible with preconceived ideas of who I think God is? Do I read the Bible looking for my beliefs to be validated? Can I find myself led astray or not understanding the Bible simply because I came to it with my own understanding? Am I willing to be led by the Holy Spirit? Am I willing to lay down my own ideas and trust God and be taught by Him?

Prov 3:5,6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.