Where Is Your Life Map Taking You?

I’m just old enough to remember a time when road tripping didn’t involve a GPS.

My dad kept a giant map (otherwise known as an atlas) in between the driver’s seat of our baby blue Suburban and the console that he used to navigate our way through the United States when we evangelized full-time back in the ’90s — a lifetime ago it seems.

I loved that atlas. I loved looking at the state’s shapes and memorizing the capital cities. The symbols that marked national parks, monuments, and other important landmarks fascinated me. I loved tracing my finger down the state highways while figuring out the perfect route to get from New York City to San Francisco (a very long route, indeed).

Perhaps that 1998 Atlas proudly sporting the American flag waving in the wind is the reason behind the travel bug that constantly plagues me these days; perhaps it’s the reason for my massive wanderlust Pinterest board, or the reason I follow all kinds of random strangers on Instagram who travel for their jobs. Who knows. But what I do know is this: 

Without a map (an atlas or a GPS), chances are pretty slim that you’ll end up in the right place when you’re on your way somewhere new.

Traveling through life is an adventure all its own, darling. It’s one new experience after another. One new monument after another. One new landmark after another. As it should be — because why would you keep traveling to the same place over and over? Wouldn’t it be more fun to include something new and exciting into your life?

But without a map, you’ll lose your way. Without a map it would be impossible to distinguish the highway from the private drive. Without a map it would be impossible to tell whether the trees blocking your view are a forest giving privacy to a neighborhood or a national park.

A map is a guide, a way for you to make sure you’re headed in the right direction. A guide for you to make sure that the boundaries you’re following are good. A guide for you to follow when you feel lost.

Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

{Psalm 119:105, NKJV}

We all feel a little lost sometimes, and that’s ok — as long as you make sure you’re not relying on your own ambitions and heart to lead you. Because when you feel lost? Your heart will never lead you in the right direction. When you feel lost? Your ambition isn’t enough to save you. But allowing Jesus to be the map of your life will make sure that — even when you feel uncertain, even when you feel like you’re legit losing it, even when you feel like nothing is going right — you’re on the right track.

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

{II Peter 1:19, NIV}

In other words, the Word of God is the only reliable source for making sure that the path you choose for your life is the right path. The Word of God will light up even the darkest road when you feel the most lost. Trust in that, darling — believe it.

Don’t be under the illusion that you can make it without the atlas — you need it. Follow it: love it, study it, embrace it.

Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.

{Psalm 119:11, NKJV}