Lesson from my Teenager

It's been awhile since I've written a post about a life lesson with spiritual application.  Oh, do I have one for you today!

My daughter, Rachel, has been driving for a few months now.   Everyday she drives herself and her sister to school, then she drives herself to and from swim practice six days a week.  She knows two ways to get to swim practice, but any deviation from her departure or arrival location and she has no clue what way to go.  Both her father and I have impeccable sense of direction, so we are unsure where her lack of direction comes from ;)

Today she ran an errand after school and on her way home she came across stand still traffic.  Mind you, she was a mere two miles away from home, so she was definitely on her own turf.  Patience is a fruit she has yet to manifest consistently.  Instead of waiting through the traffic she decides to turn off onto another road.

Now that's all well and good with one slight problem, she doesn't know where she is going!  Should she?  Yes.  Remember, she was only two miles from home.

My phone rings.  "Mom, there's a wreck and traffic wasn't moving, so I turned off and now I don't know how to get home."  Hmmm...I didn't hold back my frustration, unfortunately, I slammed her with it...you see, this happens more often than I would like...we get a phone call with her lost and us having to talk her through directions to get back to a point of reference she is familiar.

Ok, so you're probably thinking a GPS would be a perfect Christmas gift.  I agree, but back to the spiritual lesson Holy Spirit showed me from this.

How many of us in our Christian walk find ourselves on the path being directed by Him?  We know we are going the right direction, we can hear and see Him beckoning us forward.  We have vision.  Inevitably somewhere along the road we can count on a few bumps, a few obstacles, challenges, distractions, etc.  The truth is He has not moved, He is still calling us forward, but because of the "bump" we lose our focus and for any number of reasons we decide to take a different path.  Problem is without vision (direction) we don't know where we are going and get lost.

Thankfully, Holy Spirit is always there to help us get back on the right path.  Just as I was on the other end of the phone directing Rachel back home.

I shared this analogy with Rachel and she laughed and said, "that's so me!"  I encouraged her to slow down, think things through and just because she comes across traffic congestion doesn't mean she needs to turn and go another way, especially if she doesn't know another way!

In our Christian walk I think the "bumps" are opportunities.  Opportunities to encounter and know Him, trusting Him to guide our steps.  Through this process comes maturity.

Have you gotten off the path?  No reason to panic.  Simply ask Him where to go from here.  He'll show you what steps to take!

Holy Spirit I thank you for Your direction.  I thank You for Your patience with me when I decide to take a detour.  I thank You for always lovingly pointing me back to the Father.  You are my global positioning system (GPS) and though sometimes I may feel lost, I'm not, because I am secure in the palm of Your hand and this makes MY SOUL SING!