Jon Allen

A couple of years ago my wife and I decided to head to the Bighorns and spend a Saturday on our ATV. We unloaded and with anticipation, started our journey up one of our favorite trails.

As we ascended the trail we encountered several known obstacles from the very beginning of the trip. This is something we enjoy about riding. About a mile into our excursion we encountered something we never thought we would on an ATV trail in the mountains.

As we came around a bend in the trail, above us we saw a Toyota Corolla coming down the trail from the other direction. Well, he wasn’t coming down as the car was actually smashed up against a tree it hit as it careened driverless down the hill. That is a story for a different, and much extended, time.

Of course, we stopped and did what we could to help the driver, our newfound friend. To make a long and interesting story short, we were able to get our new friend unstuck and on his precarious way down the rest of the trail since there really wasn’t another option. 

When we first encountered this situation, the inquisitive mind had to ask, “How did you get here in a car?” There was a lot more to that story, but the main focus of the story was that the man took instruction from an online map service. We won’t mention names.

I asked our new friend why he didn’t stop at some point, maybe when he had to cross a creek, or make a six-point turn between some very pesky yet appropriately placed pines. His answer was that he was trusting the mapping app.

In contemplation of this crazy, funny story, my thoughts went to the question of where do we receive direction in life? The truth is there can be many sources that have varying effectiveness in navigating life successfully. There is only one source, however, that will never send us down an ATV trail in a Corolla.

We read in Psalm 119:105, “Your Word is a lamp for my feet, and a light for my path.” The promise that God’s word, the Bible, will guide us down the right path is profound here.

Isaiah 58:11 tells us about the Lord guiding us when it says, “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

There are so many more scriptures ensuring that God will direct our steps and as we see in Isaiah, truly bless us within a deep abiding relationship with him.

The key, or map in this case, is a deep and abiding relationship with our Lord, Jesus! As we admit our sin, as we believe that Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection not only pays the penalty of our sins, but gives us hope of eternal life with him, and then as we daily abide, spend time, with Jesus in the Bible and prayer, we can be assured there will be direction for our lives. A direction that has purpose and blessing.

So, when life gets crazy and you don’t know where to go, the answer is Jesus and a deep and abiding relationship with him. His word, the Bible, and daily time with him will most certainly give you a good life map to follow.

(Jon Allen is the associate pastor of Grace Point in Powell.)