Tip of My Iceberg

We all have our challenges. Those things that complicate life by their mundane pettiness but are nonetheless always in our sight.

I’m vertically challenged, for example. I claim to be 5 feet, three inches, but I’m, in fact, a half inch shy of that. It’s not an issue worthy of concern. Unless I sit on chairs high enough to keep my feet from touching the floor. Dangling leg syndrome. Or constantly need to hem everything I own.

I’m mindfully challenged. I lead with my heart. Rarely thinking before I speak or act. Not a problem, unless I need to be objective. Unless I need to consider facts before making comments. Think foot in mouth issues.

But on a certain day last week I was directionally challenged. Needing to go to a part of town I wasn’t familiar with, I plugged my destination into Google maps and set out. Not a problem till I got within a mile of the place. And then it got funky.

I recalculated. And went back. And it got funky again.

So I told Siri the destination, figuring two minds are better than one. Now two voices were chiming in on my iPhone. And they weren’t agreeing.

I called a friend who was heading to the same place. And she told me what I’d missed. That the road did a total loop that wasn’t clear on either of my GPS voices.

My directional quotient tanked. I failed to find my way.

Before GPS, I had no problem pulling over and asking folks for directions. I was quite comfortable admitting to being lost. Being unfamiliar with new places. (My husband, however, was one of those men who’d stop only if they were certain we’d ended up on the wrong continent.)

With the convenience and availability of directional maps and lovely voices telling me where to go, it feels so much worse to not be able to find my way. Rather like being a loser. Or loster.

Life often feels like that. I’ve many people who give me good advice on what to do, how to do it and where to go with it. But sometimes it just feels wrong. Or empty. Or uncomfortable. Or unsatisfying.

And I feel lost.

I sometimes feel lost from God as well.

“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray and turned them loose in the mountains. They have lost their way and can’t remember how to get back to the sheepfold.”   Jeremiah 50:6

But God never intended us to stay lost. He came to seek us, to give us what we need to find Him.

“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”   Luke 19:10

Being lost in places in this world is a temporary problem.

Being lost from God forever is an eternal problem.

He sent Jesus to be our divine GPS. God’s Personnel Savior.

Trust me. His voice is sweeter than Siri’s.