Of maps and travelling companions

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This weekend I was using a map - an honest to goodness, there's not enough room to open it in this front car seat space and good luck ever getting it refolded to any semblance of it's original neatness  kind of a map.  It was weird, but had a comforting familiarity about it that I don't have with my GPS.

I plotted where we were and where we were headed; saw the various options and made choices. I had a pretty good overview of the whole drive albeit I did miss the "You are Here" pinpoint accuracy of the peg on the GPS road display...

Springing off the page this morning was Psalm 139:3
"You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest.
Every moment You know where I am."

There is a confidence in having a map and knowing how the road turns, of planning a way to get from Point A to B and having a rough idea of how long it will take to make the trip.

God's done that for my life.

It's also very reassuring to know exactly where I am every day along this way. 
God's never surprised at where He finds me. I may be, but He never is. 

He had a plan and He always knows where I am.

The problem comes because I don't have the map.  I don't know where the road is leading and even sometimes when I feel I do, it seems then I reach where the map is folded over so I can't see possibly see what's next.  How am I supposed to know where to go?!

Psalm 139:5-10 (NLT)
"You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to know! I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!  If I go up to heaven you are there; if I got down to the place of the dead, you are there.  If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me."

I'm never without the trip coordinator - the One who knows all the turns, all the stops, the elevation changes, the traffic patterns, and where to get a really sustaining lunch.
 He has a plan. He knows my position and I am always in His presence.

My companion is the One who has charted out the path for me; He created the map and, I'm thinking, He even knows how to fold it!



Comments

Kamaca Champion said…
Hillsong has a great song "At the Cross" and she leads with the introduction to Psalm 139. It's a blessed thought to know that God going before me and know my ways and shielding me means bring the Cross to me!

I also love the illustration of God following and preceding me. NIV version says "You hem me in" Very comforting.
September 27, 2013 at 11:22 AM
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