GPS: God's Positioning System

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (6) In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (7) Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." -Proverbs 3:5-7 KJV

A GPS can be one of the most helpful tools or the worst piece of technology you can ever own. Imagine  you driving in a new town, you're lost and wondering how to get to the destination. You pull up to anther car, and honk your horn. The person rolls down their window, and you ask "I'm looking for ___ street, do you know how to get there?" The person replies "Make a left at the light, go 3 miles, turn right, take the first left, make another right, go 6 miles and the destination is on the left." You smile and say "thank you" as the light changes green. As you drive down the street, you begin to forget the directions and once again you're lost. You're getting angry, and you begin to give up but then you remember you have a GPS in the back seat. So you reach in the back seat, get the GPS, put the address in, and you arrive at the destination safely.

The above scenario happens often, especially when you're driving in a new area or even in a familiar area and the street name is unfamiliar. Life is just like that, no matter how old you are. We are born, unaware of our destination in life. We are raised by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. and they help us understand our purpose in this life. In our teenage years, most of us have an idea of the "destination" we are trying to arrive through but still have no direction on how to get there so we look to parents, teachers, friends, and counselors for some guidance. They give us some direction on how to get to our destination, and we follow the instructions but then we forget the rest, and we become lost again. However, we all have a GPS also known as "God's Positioning System".

Proverbs 3:5-7 is one of the most quoted scriptures in Christianity, but many don't understand what King Solomon was really trying to tell them. Verse 5 says, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." The first step in GPS is to TRUST in the Lord with ALL thine heart and LEAN NOT unto thine own understanding. The word "Trust" is defined as "to place confidence in". When you trust in God, there is NO doubt and you know that wherever God is leading you will be for His Glory, and for your good (Romans 8:28). Have you ever rode with a person that asked you how to get to a certain place, and you gave them directions but they say "well, I'm going to ask this person for directions" and you say "I just gave you directions. Why are you asking someone else for directions I already gave you?". This scenario happens when we ask man for directions to success, fame, health, eternal life when God already gave us instructions to these things through His Word. We don't trust God when we read His Word yet go to Oprah to find out how to make a million in a year or go to the Christian bookstore and pick up Joel Osteen's latest book. When we TRUST God, all we need is His Word because The Word of God is our road map through this journey called life. When we trust God, we cannot trust OUR understanding. In other words, we can't say "God show me the way" and say "Imma do this my way" because then you're leading yourself and you'll just end up lost again. The main focus of verse 5 is to show you that you first need to submit to God before He can take you anywhere in life.

Verse 6 says "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Is King Solomon crazy? Did you notice how the word "all" is in both verses 5 and 6? Verse 6 is the most critical part of GPS because this scripture tells us exactly how to find out where God is leading us to. The word "all" means "entirety", so first we must trust in God with every piece of our heart, and give up our understanding of how to get to the destination. Secondly, we must acknowledge God in all of our ways, and he will direct our paths. The word "acknowledge" broken down in the simplest form means "awareness and recognition" The word "direct" means to "point out or to guide". So when we acknowledge God, we say "God, I recognize that I am lost. I've tried going my way and it didn't work so I'm giving up and I will let you lead me". Acknowledging God is more than "Thank you Jesus for..." that's great and all but even actors thank God on camera. When we truly acknowledge God in ALL of our ways, we dedicate every aspect of our life to God. We praise and worship God with our money, time, house, family, job, etc. The word "all" means "entirety" so we cannot acknowledge God in our public life but ignore Him in our private life. We must make sure that God  first in every aspect of our lives; from clothes to jobs to relationships: We should consult with God FIRST and foremost. Notice how we must acknowledge Him FIRST then He will direct our paths. Why? because when we arrive at our "destination", the first thing we should say is "If it wasn't for God directing me, I would have never made it" because God knows all and He knows exactly how to lead us in the right direction. He wont lead us to a dead end, and have us running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. The children of Israel was in the desert for 40 years although the journey was supposed to have been short. Why? because they leaned on THEIR understanding instead of trusting God. In life we will come to the "fork in the road" but when we acknowledge God, He will lead us down the path that will bring Him he MOST Glory. Jesus demonstrated this when He prayed in the garden, and God lead Christ down the right path. Yes, it lead to His death but the end result or "destination" was glorious beyond measure.

Verse 7 says "Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." After God directs our path, we must be extremely careful. Once we arrive to our destination whether it's ministry, preaching, etc; we must remember that we did not "arrive" there by ourselves. King Solomon is warning that when fame and riches begin to materialize as a result of obeying the direction of God, pride can begin to set in, which is the scripture tells us not to be "wise" in our own eyes. However, Solomon takes it 1 step further by telling us how we can avoid becoming wise in our own eyes: by fearing the LORD and departing from evil. To "fear the Lord" does not mean to be afraid of God. God is our Creator, and as His Creation, all He wants is for us to love Him and develop a relationship with Him. However, the word "fear" in this situation means to "regard with awe". When we "fear" the LORD, we become amazed by His Wisdom, Power, Love, Truth, etc. The word "awe" broken down in the simplest form means "a feeling of mingled surprise, admiration, and astonishment". When we "fear" the LORD, our paths become easier to travel because our focus shifts from the path to the scenery. The second part says "depart from evil.". Departing from evil doesn't just mean not looking or doing evil things. The word "depart" means to "deviate", which implies that you're going off course. This part is talking abut salvation. When God directs your path, He will not lead you into sin. Evil may be people who are trying to distract you from the destiny that God is taking you to, whether it's through word or deed but stay focused on Christ. Verse 7 takes us back to Verse 5 because when we trust God entirely, nothing or no one else can have that trust.

Life is hard, and there will be dead ends, wrong turns, unmarked roads, etc. When we are born, all of us are lost because sin has blinded us and made us think we know what we're doing and where we're going. The Bible says that "The wages of sin IS death" (Romans 6:23) and that "ALL have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Sin leads us down the wrong road by telling us that riches and fame matter and that we only live once. Jesus Christ said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6). Jesus Christ referred to Himself as "the way" because many was trying to find the path to God but couldn't. The Pharisees were legalistic teachers who believed that obeying the Law was the way to God. In modern society, the media teaches us that there are many ways to "discover the true you" and many of these roads lead straight to Hell as Jesus stated in Matthew 7:13,14. Maybe you've gotten "lost" in life and find yourself at a dead end. Do not worry, you can get back on track with Jesus Christ. Accept the fact that sin has lead you away from God, and that no matter what you do, you cannot get right with God by yourself. Believe that Jesus Christ, the Only Son of the Living God, came to earth as God in the flesh, lived a perfect life, took your place on the cross, died for your sins, was buried and 3 days later was raised from the dead through the power of the Holy Ghost. Once you truly accept Christ and what He has done for you, you are on your way to arriving at the destination God has for you. The road will have holes and cracks in it but remember that God is leading you, and He will never leave you (Joshua 1:9). No matter where you are, Jesus Christ can find you and lead you down the right path. God Bless