Stay On Course

By: Aleah Winburn

Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

Proverbs 4:26

I will reference a lot of Scripture so keep your Bibles handy. 

The day I started driving was the day that my GPS became one of my best friends. I use it quite often, even when I’m traveling to destinations that I regularly visit, such as work, because there are many ways to get there. Each day the best course could be different than the day before. I always want to take the best course possible. Sometimes there is traffic, road closures, wrecks, etc. As someone who never seems to have enough time in the mornings, I can’t afford any unexpected detours or delays.

One morning while in a rush, I plugged the address to work into my GPS. As always, it selected the best course for me. Even with the best course selected, my handy-dandy GPS delivered the bad news aloud that I was to get there about 2 minutes late. Stressed and rushed, I followed the path the GPS led me. Soon after I got on the road, the time to my destination began to go up and up . . . and up. I was now going to be arriving at work later than late! I took a deep breath and continued on the way. What else was I to do? My destination was set; I was on the best course possible.

Amid the stop-and-go of the traffic, I was coming to an exit that would get me off the interstate and lead me to work via back roads. Surely, they would be better than the course I was on! At that moment, anything seemed better than the course I was on. Maybe my old faithful GPS was confused this morning as to which route was better.

I began to merge over to where I could get off that exit, when the GPS exclaimed: “There is a five-minute delay. You are on the best route and will arrive at your destination at 7:05 AM.” It’s almost like my GPS knew I was doubting it.

I had a decision to make — do I trust my guide (who has proved itself to be very accurate), or do I take a chance and go a different way? Suddenly, just because I was stressfully impatient, I began to question the thing I relied on that morning to safely get me to my destination on time, despite my lack of preparation, the thing designed by much smarter people than I to do exactly what it was doing, the thing that I had used so many times before and that had never steered me wrong.

I came to my senses and decided to abandon my thoughts of detouring and continued, following my GPS. I’m so thankful that I did, because traffic began to clear, and I watched the time go down as I went on my way. I made it to work on time! All I needed was a little faith in my guide.

We, as born-again believers, have something far greater than a GPS charting our course. We have the Bible, God’s holy Word. I Peter 1:23, II Timothy 3:16 – “Being born again . . . by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. All scripture is given by inspiration of God . . . .”

Let that sink in—God’s Holy Word. It isn’t programmed by man. It is the Word of God — perfect, preserved, and inspired by God Himself!

This Guide is ever-living — never a glitch or in need of any updates or recalculations. I’ve heard preachers say that the Bible is “more up to date than tomorrow’s newspaper!” It’s amazing how something penned thousands of years ago is still a faithful guide to the believer today. Psalm 18:30, “As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.” Psalm 18:32, “It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.”

If God’s way is perfect — and it is because of Him that our way is made perfect — then why do we so often, when things aren’t going our way (i.e., unexpected delays, or unforeseen slowdowns, roadblocks), begin to question this course that God has us on?

We lack the faith in this guide to properly direct us safely to the place where God wants us to go. Or we lack faith that God’s way is leading us to the place we need to be in our lives. If you are saved, the final destination is Heaven. On our way to Heaven, God has a perfect and divine will for our lives. God has given us His Word, and in it, commands and instructions to follow (Proverbs 10:29, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 23:3, Jeremiah 6:16). When we aren’t following the course that God has set for us in His Word, we are following our understanding.

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Bad things happen when we trust in ourselves to be blessed, to live for God, or to make it to the next stop in our lives safely and on time. As a saved person, your final destination cannot change. But Satan can put you out of commission on your journey or detour you from where God wants you to be.

If I had disregarded my GPS and taken the detour that day on my way to work, who knows what would have been in store for me on the roads ahead? Yes, I was confident that those roads would get me to work, however, there might have been danger that I couldn’t see, road closures, wrecks, or a worse slowdown than I was already experiencing.

There could have been something on those paths that would have put me out of commission — like those cars you see on the side of the road with their hazards on, creating slowdowns for others in the way. I could have been even later to my next destination, my employer would have been disappointed, and those who relied on me to do my duties at work would have been let down and put under a heavier burden because of my choices.

This is much like our Christian life. Proverbs 4:26, “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.” As we ponder the paths of our feet, can we say that we are on the course that God has for us? Is it the Lord that you are trusting in to direct your paths? (Proverbs 3:5–6, Psalm 37:5) 

If you aren’t saved — on the course charted by God — then you are walking according to the course of this world (Ephesians 2:2). This course is the one each of us is born into, and it is led by the devil himself. It leads to destruction, death, and hell.

Dear friend, what is God wanting you to do? Where is He leading you to serve? Are you in a season of patience? Are the friends you have, or the boy you like, going to detour you from what God has for you to do? You may be on this course in a season of sadness. Maybe someone you love has detoured or has yet to get in the way. Maybe you don’t understand why the Lord is guiding you the way that He is.

Whatever the case may be, remember: Job 23:10, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Keep going! Trust and have faith! Prepare for the journey by studying your Guide! God’s way is perfect and full of joy.

May we all be like Paul and be able to say: II Timothy 4:7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”