God Is My Global Positioning System
By Mike Kerrigan
Like a rebound in basketball that fortuitously finds a flatfooted forward at the 3-point line rather than near the rim, grace falls freely on the undeserving if they’re open to it. So I try to be receptive and hope for a few lucky bounces off life’s spiritual backboard.
A recent Friday morning came with such a rebound. These rare moments happen on Fridays, when my mind isn’t distracted by a full week’s work in front of me, and usually when I’m driving somewhere. I punched my destination—an unfamiliar lunch spot north of Charlotte— into my truck’s GPS and began to follow the verbal directions.
Strangely, the way it directed me wasn’t the familiar path I wanted to take. GPS knew what I couldn’t: that an accident ahead on my preferred route would have prevented me from arriving at my desired destination on time. Free though I was to do otherwise, I chose to follow my GPS.
Around 30 minutes later I missed the exit for the restaurant. I like to think I was mentally preparing for the important business meeting ahead, but the truth is, I’m powerless when Gordon Lightfoot comes on my playlist. I couldn’t hear the directions over my own singing.
GPS respected my choice, promptly recalibrated, and calmly gave me new directions to follow.
I missed no further exits, made the lunch appointment, and had a productive meeting. Such is God’s love. He knows and wants what’s best for me, always and everywhere. If I ask and—this is important—in the quiet, listen, he’ll tell me the surest path toward the good I seek.
And when I can’t align my will to his for a measly half-hour, he doesn’t forsake me. Instead, he meets me where I am, however lowly and however often, and from there tells me the best way forward. I am never lost while there’s breath in me; in his “proceed to the route” is patient love beyond all understanding.
I am grateful for life’s long rebounds, even if I get them only on the occasional Friday drive. Perhaps to pull down more of these precious spiritual boards without confusion, I’ll listen to Gordon Lightfoot on my Thursday rather than Friday commute.
Mr. Kerrigan is an attorney in Charlotte, N.C.
