Where's my turn-by-turn directions?

"A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

I stumbled across this verse tonight. I'm glad I did. I've stumbled a lot in life (over briar patches in the woods, over my own feet sometimes, etc.) That kind of stumbling, though, is the least of my worries. Many times in life, we stumble as Christians. We allow obstacles to block our route or we just simply don't pay attention to where we are going. We haven't mapped out a route.

When you embark on a road trip, before you go, you will most likely plan your route. You have a plan for how to get to your destination and use directions to carry out that plan. If you're like me, you probably just punch an address into the GPS on your phone and hit the "get directions" button. However, if you're like my dad you go old school- paper map and all. I can't tell you the number of times I've started to leave for a road trip and he sarcastically says "You know that phone is gonna send you around the world. You should take a real map, son." Usually, I just brush the comment off and move on. Today, I'm thinking a little deeper on that comment, especially as it can relate to life. What? Relate to life? Give me some time to explain.

You see, life is a journey of sorts, a "road trip." For Christians, our planned destination is heaven. A real man's heart has made plans to arrive at this destination, when the time comes of course. Our "map" is the Bible. However, the "map" is not all we need. You know we need that "GPS" too- the one with the turn-by-turn directions. God is our "GPS." He can direct our steps (turns.) Many times, we forget about the "map," the "GPS" or both. Other times we simply just don't have a plan. However, there's time to formulate one. Let your heart plan the way, but let the Lord direct your steps. Make a decision to make heaven your destination and let God lead the way.

In each blog post, I give some of my thoughts on what the real "measure" of a man is. Tonight, I think that the real "measure" of a man is not whether he has the latest phone with the greatest GPS. No, part of the real "measure" of a man is his desire to have a plan for his life and let the Lord direct his steps. That plan can encompass many things- being a Godly husband or father or son, serving others, sharing God's word, etc. God wants to see us have goals and make plans that involve Him. Sometimes, God allows us to go through with the parts of our plan that are best for us. Other times, he takes us on a detour that was a better route anyway.The bottom line is, Give God your heart and let Him direct your steps. So, let your heart make a plan, grab the "map" and the "GPS" and let the Lord give you turn-by-turn directions. That's just a few thoughts from this small town southern man.