The other day, I was driving in Phoenix; I was not sure where I was going. I turned on the GPS and listened for directions. It wasn't long before the GPS voice blared, “Rerouting, rerouting! Take the next left.” I ignored the urgent voice and sped past the turn. She screamed, “Rerouting, rerouting!" A little perturbed at the repeated rattle, I said, “Hush up! I know what I’m doing!” I realized I was talking to a machine, and it was a rhetorical command, but at that moment I realized an important truth. We humans often ignore God’s messages. We pray for direction in our lives and hope the Lord will hear us, but when He sends a message to change course and repent, we often say, “I know what I’m doing.”
Back in the dark ages before GPS, I often traveled from Utah to Arizona. The first few trips I wasn’t sure of the route, so I got lost occasionally. On one trip, I pulled up to an intersection and decided to pray and ask, “Which way should I go?” The Spirit whispered the answer. It wasn’t loud or demanding, but I felt it was a clear message, if I was willing to listen. Immediately, I began to second guess. “I’ll bet this is the way.” I turned the opposite direction from my prompting. I drove miles and miles, all the while getting the impression that the countryside didn’t look right. An hour later, the paved highway turned into a dirt road, and I knew for certain I had made the wrong choice. I would like to say, I magically ended where I began, but I had to travel back over the same road until I came to the intersection where I made my error. I lost two hours just because I thought I knew best.
God, like GPS, is a constant monitor of our choices. He allows us to make whatever choice we desire, but He will not shield us from the final destination. That depends on the choice we make. Some pretend that it doesn’t matter what choice we make, that we will ultimately reach our goal of happiness and contentment. “All roads lead to Rome.” Sadly, that is not the case. Eternal and immutable laws prevent that. God is not shaping our destination by His omniscient power. He is allowing eternal laws to play out. It is ludicrous to think that I can point my car west to California and expect to end up in New York, without some adjustments in my calculations or travel plans.
Some choices in life lead us to serious consequences that take a lot more than just saying, “Oops, I made a slight error.” I think of the teen who says, “I’ll try meth just once. My friends say it will be fun.” The Spirit whispers, “Not a good choice.” The neck stiffens as pride takes over. “I know what I’m doing!” Years later in rehab, with an emaciated body, sores and sorrow of heart, the teen looks up in anguish and cries, “I should have listened. Please help me find my way back.” It is a long journey back traveling a road that goes through nightmares, rebuilding trust, setbacks and lost years that never can be regained. It is a hard road, but because of Jesus Christ, the journey back is possible.
I think of couples who decide marriage is antiquated and that the new philosophy of testing the water before the plunge is the way to go. The Spirit whispers, “Not a good choice.” But they say, "Everyone is doing it; so what’s the big deal? We love each other, and we know what we are doing!” Years later the individuals wake up after several partners with no security or family. They are miles apart with children who are lost in a sea of confusion. The children don’t know what it means to be raised in a family whose parents love each other. The never-ending madness of who pays for what, who has custody, who takes responsibility becomes the daily fare in such relationships. The couple, though far apart, wonder, “How did life get so far off track? The journey back is rocky and filled with sorrow. How do we gather up our children along the way? How can we fix what we have broken?” Only Christ has the answer, but it is not easy traveling back to pick up the pieces.
I have lived long enough to see the pattern of wanton disobedience and choices contrary to God’s eternal laws play out in many lives. All seems well at first, but as the years go by, the consequences start to rear their ugly heads, and suddenly the person realizes he/she has been traveling a wrong road and wants to turn around and go back to the beginning. It is possible to turn from a lifestyle to start from where you are and make different choices, make the best effort to repair breeches and move on. Eventually, God will help to make it right.
It sounds like I am sitting at the top of a very high pedestal looking down pointing my finger, but I realize I have enough of my own turning back to do to judge others. I am glad I am not the judge of another’s choices. As John Bradford said, “There but for the grace of God go I.” I could have been in the same situation if I had been given the same set of circumstances. I know for sure that I have not always listened to the “still small voice" of the Spirit. I am as much in need of the Savior’s forgiveness as anyone. I am glad for His promises:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
—Isaiah 1:18 KJV
This promise connotes starting over with a clean slate in His eyes, but it doesn’t say there will not be a return journey, lost time and some pain. His promise is referring to the final result of a changed life, not a magical transformation, though the feeling of forgiveness comes automatically.
Just as the GPS demands a rerouting and a change to reach a destination, our lives demand a change, a "walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4 KJV), to find the peace and contentment we seek. When we are changed, it is still a journey of obedience, trial and error.
Daily repentance is the key to a happy life. Repentance has always meant being sorry for misdeeds, restoring what is lost and a promise to never do the deed again, but as I learned lately: repentance is rerouting, a turning again toward God. It is evaluating daily life to see how close I am to being a true Christian. Like the old axiom: If I was accused in a court of law of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me? The scripture of the sheep and the goats is a good test. On what side of God’s hand do I stand?
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall and answer and say unto them. Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
—Matthew 25: 37-43
The everlasting fire designed for the wicked is not reserved for the next life. Each time we stray from following the Savior, we feel the burnings. At first, we only hear the soft whisper of God saying, “Rerouting, rerouting.” But as time goes by, the flames of Hell start to burn around us. Just ask those who are chained with addiction or the loss of family because of immorality. The pain becomes more intense until we recognize we are on the wrong road and decide to change course.
