Direction for the Hopelessly Lost

“Hopelessly lost” is a good adjective to describe me, not just in a spiritual sense but in a physical one as well. 

When God was assembling my double helix, He left out the genetic code that would give me a sense of direction. North, south, east, west—don’t ask me. Instead, I attempt to drive by landmarks—the house with the “Quilts for Sale” sign out front, the farm where sheep used to graze twenty years ago, the intersection where golden squash and plump unshucked ears of corn were heaped overflowing in baskets one summer. 

Even then, driving familiar roads is incredibly difficult, especially when a route I’ve driven dozens of time should be familiar but still isn’t. A few weeks back, I got lost driving to my friend’s house and had to call frantic for help.

As you can probably guess, I have a serious fear of being lost. Going prayer walking each week through the maze-like twists and turns of subdivisions has a couple times left me frantic, almost lost with thoughts of leaving breadcrumbs along my path to ensure I find my way back to the van.

Several years ago, my husband bought me a Garmin as a Valentines’ Day gift, but it died a well-mourned death two summers ago. Ever since, each time I get behind the wheel, I feel like a trapeze artist flying through the air with no net. If I let myself think about it, it’s terrifying and I'll just stay home, instead.

All too many times, I don’t know the way when others find it childishly simple.

Tonight marks the second week of advent, two purple candles now flickering in the darkness. During Week One, we focused on Christ being “our Hope.” This week, the focus is on Jesus being “the Way.”

In the upper room when Jesus was preparing the disciples for what was to come, He said, "'In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.' Thomas said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?' Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (Jn. 14:2-6).

Jesus clearly tells us that He is The Way to everlasting life, to the place He is preparing for us. What’s more, He is the only way. But trusting in Christ alone for one’s salvation is a plan so simple that it’s easy to miss.

Even for the directionally challenged, it sometimes seems more logical, even easier to forge our own paths and trust in the good works of our hands, in what “feels” right in our gut versus trust in Him and what His many times head-scratching Word says about The Way He has laid out for us to follow.

But leaning on our own sense of direction will only result in us being hopelessly lost. Proverbs 3:5-6 speaks of Christ’s followers finding the Way by trusting in Him by faith: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

Trust, faith in Christ is the only Way. Relying on a map made by human understanding will only take us down a different path than the one leading straight to salvation.

As difficult as Scripture is to understand at times, to know the Way is to know the Word. John tells us, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14).

In this Advent season, the Word is about to make His appearance in flesh. The Way is coming to make Himself known to a lost world.

While we may not know the exact paths, hills, and curves God wants us to take on our journey to Him, we do know He has given His Word as a roadmap to help guide us in the Way.

For one so confused by earthly directions, the idea that there is only one Way is actually quite comforting. If I keep my eyes firmly focused on Him, if I ask in faith for His guidance and keep my mind and heart rooted in studying and applying His word, I can’t get lost.

Even If There's No Pillar of Cloud to Guide You

If you have been having Monday Morning Manna here with us for any length of time, you've read about how God created me totally lacking in some areas in order to keep me humble.  It's hard to feel too much pride with your face burning hot in embarrassment.

One of the largest blank portions of my brain is the part that provides others with a sense of direction.  As you can imagine, being lost is a great fear of mine.  To leave my house and drive to a never-before-visited destination or even via a road I've only traveled a dozen times or so, I literally have to force down an almost tangible knot of fear, tell myself I'm a big girl with a fully charged cell phone, and slip the van into reverse.

Probably because I fear getting lost, I've always had this image in my head of the Israelites just meandering aimlessly around the wilderness.  Sand storms, a lack of direction, or some other divine stellar re-mix in the cosmos--I've always imagined this million man, woman, and child march continually getting lost in the Sinai peninsula, especially after they failed the test of faith when it came time to cross the Jordan River and possess the land.  In my mind, they lived out the forty year curse struggling to find their way back to Canaan after God allowed the land's native inhabitants to send them running. 

Yet, my childhood image is wrong. God never allowed this group straight off the bus from Egypt to just wander around aimlessly. 

Wander?  Yes and no.  God always had a definite goal in mind even if the Israelites couldn't see it and felt like they were meandering at an irregular pace.

Aimlessly?  Definitely  not..

God led them--visibly--all the way: " The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people" (Ex. 13:21-22).  

With these visible signs of His presence always with their camp, God's people had a sign they could always look to for confirmation that He was leading them. 

After God instructed them to build the Tabernacle and saw its construction complete, the cloud's presence over the tent of meeting determined when the Israelites would make and break camp: "Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp... Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they did set out" (Num. 9:17, 22).

I remember this part.  But what I don't think I ever understood was that even after they disobeyed, God didn't just shake His holy head and turn His back on the whole lot of them, then pick them back up forty years later.

Right before Joshua entered the land of Canaan after the forty years, when Moses spoke his last words to the Israelites, "The Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent" (Deut. 31:15).

The prophet Nehemiah later confirms this history of God's continued presence during the forty year wandering: "You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst. Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want;Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell" (Ne. 9:19-21).

God's Presence had been with His people the whole time, leading them with this cloud over the Tabernacle.  His Presence had caused them to wander on a God-approved path, one with His continued presence.

Next week, we will look at where God led the Israelites.  But for now, I can only stop here and sit in wonder at our God and what this means for us who are called the children of God.

Even when we feel as if we're wandering with no clear direction, even when our sin leads us on a path of consequences and God's judgment in the wilderness--EVEN THEN, God's presence is still with us.

We may not have a literal pillar of cloud to serve as a guide, but for those of us who are called by His name, who are His children, He will never leave us or forsake us.  He is always present, leading, guiding and protecting.

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you" (Deut. 31:6).