By Kathy Smith
I’m certain your GPS has never been lost, but mine has been at times. The saddest part is the fact that it does not know that it is lost! Sadder still is the fact that if it is lost, I am usually lost with it! Being lost in the middle of nowhere and having to stop for directions is one thing, but being lost in the body of Christ is a whole different matter.
My husband says that my sense of direction is so poor that I could not find my way out of a paper bag. While that may be only a slight exaggeration, I have had to learn how to compensate for this shortcoming over the years. My compass, mapquest.com, and now my GPS can be very helpful navigational tools at times.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (KJV). An expected end is a destination or a bull’s eye. It is helpful to know what your destination is and have a general sense of where it is located. It is a good idea to plot out a basic plan to get there. If you fail to do your homework, you could wind up somewhere you did not want to go.
God has given an expected end to each one of us. Where is your expected end? For some, discovering their own personal expected end seems about as easy as finding the appropriate end to open on a produce department plastic bag. Am I the only one who has difficulty finding the designated end? You have your hands full of fresh fruits and veggies when you decide to find a bag that will protect it until you get home—except that you lose half of it on the floor while trying to open the bag in the middle of the grocery aisle. Sometimes it seems that finding what God has called you to do is just as challenging!
I am certain some of you may have heard from God as children, knew exactly what you were called to do and have been pursuing it ever since. If it was that easy for you, praise God and keep running for the prize. For others for whom God’s plan and purpose, His expected end, gifts and callings have been more elusive, the vision for the future may seem vague.
On my way to a preaching engagement, I found it necessary to use my GPS to help me find my destination. I programmed the address of the church into my phone and waited while it chose an appropriate course. It took a few minutes, but soon it began barking out commands to take me to my intended destination. The church was located in a remote area outside of Millersburg, OH. I knew that the church was somewhere on the west side of Millersburg. I trusted the GPS on my phone to take me to the exact location. We had planned to stop along the way for breakfast, but we got a later start than I had intended. No fear, we decided to snack on some cheese and make our way to Mansfield, OH. Then, if we had enough time, we would stop there to eat. Once we made it to Mansfield, I was a little apprehensive about the time, so we decided to proceed to our destination and find the church before eating.
Again, I knew that it was located on the west side of Millersburg, but strangely enough we found ourselves in the middle of town. Finally the GPS proudly announced, “You have arrived at your destination, it is approaching on your left.” There was no church in sight; obviously, we were nowhere near it. I looked at the church’s address once again and checked what I had programmed into the GPS. To my dismay, I discovered that the GPS had been unable to locate the address I had given it. Therefore, it had randomly directed us to a site in the center of Millersburg. It had not even warned me that it could not find the exact address. Now we were almost ten miles too far east and had to turn around and drive back to find the church. We stopped along the way at a gas station to ask for directions.
There was no time left for breakfast, even if there had been a restaurant open. (It seems everything is closed on Sunday in Amish country.) We did find our way to the church in time, but we did it without eating. If only I had spent more time plotting out our course, we would not have gotten lost! Perhaps we would even have found time to eat breakfast along the way. How many people fail to plan for their future, fail to plot the course to their destination and then become lost on their journey to their expected end?
You can plot a course for a successful future.
You must first seek the face of God for His gifts and His calling for which He created you. Then you must dream the dream and see the vision; write it out and make it plain. Once you have a written vision, you must plot your course and act upon the plan. Walk it out, endure the hardships, and diligently work the plan until you arrive at your intended destination. Paul said it best in Philippians 3:14, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
