15 May Show me the Way

If you were a fan of the animated TV series “The Jetsons,” you missed an important birthday last year. It’s estimated that George Jetson was born on July 31, 2022. If you’re not a fan of the show, George is the patriarch of a family that lives in the 2060’s. I’m disappointed that the 21st century hasn’t brought the cities in the sky and flying cars of “The Jetsons.” But we do have something that George didn’t, and I am very thankful for it: GPS. I can get lost in a phone booth (if there are any still around). So, I am tremendously grateful for technology that guides me to any new destination, near or far.

I am also thankful for another GPS. This one is divine in nature: God’s Perfect System:

Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life. Psalm 143:8 (NIV)

Psalm 143 is labeled “A Psalm of David.” King David had so many crises in his life that it is difficult to even guess which one he was enduring when he wrote this psalm. It could be when he was being pursued by Saul or being targeted by his own son Absalom. Or it might be a time in David’s life that isn’t recorded in Scripture. Regardless, it’s clear David is asking for God’s presence and guidance. Consider the New King James version:

Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You. Psalm 143:8 NKJV.

“Cause me” to experience Your love. Make it happen. David first asks God to simply make His presence known. We can ask God each morning to remind us we are not traveling on His path alone. We can ask Him to not just allow us but to cause us to feel His love, His presence in our lives to start each day. Further, David asks God to cause him or show him the way to walk. When we allow God into our lives, when we do not simply acknowledge Him but receive His presence in us, following in His footsteps is even easier than following GPS. And when we try to outsmart GPS and take our own route, we usually regret it. The same is true of God. It is why David says: “Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life.”

Years ago, I heard the expression: “Do what God is blessing, don’t ask Him to bless what you’re doing.” But we do. We attempt to override God’s GPS and set our own route, rather than trusting Him. Verse 10 is also powerful: “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

Receive God’s love each morning. Trust in that love enough to let Him show you the way to go. Ask that He instructs you in doing His will. Each morning we have a choice. We can dedicate ourselves to spend it doing what God is blessing, following His lead. Or we can override Divine GPS and ask Him to bless what we are doing, taking our own path. I spent the first 55 years of my life lost. Then I accepted God’s Perfect System. I’m not perfect. I still stray from the path. But God’s GPS comes with the ultimate rerouting feature when I return to the default setting: “Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life.” Trust God to lead, because He’s the only one who knows where He wants you to go.

Pastor Jerry Bader