Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105 NLT   

Last Thursday began as an ordinary day at our house. Ken was washing and waxing the car in recognition of spring. I was tending my perennials as usual and trying to wrap up the digitization of our old photos. I’d been in the yard most of the morning and came in to the sound of Ken’s ringtone but I didn’t make it in time, nor did I recognize the number on the recent call so I ignored it. A couple of minutes later, my phone rang and it was the same caller so I figured it must be someone who knows us and answered. I was surprised and thrilled to hear the voice of a dear friend at the other end of the connection, one we hadn’t seen for a good while. The couple was visiting Branson and enjoying their RV but decided to make a side trip up to our house if we were available. And, of course, we were. They planned to arrive about one thirty to two.

I was a muddy mess, looking like I just stepped out of a pig pen and Ken was wrapping up the car wax. We had just enough time to clean up and make ourselves presentable. Ken was faster but I finished a few minutes before one thirty so we got comfy and waited. One forty-five passed, then two o’clock and two fifteen. No company arrived at our door. I had jumped on the laptop to check camping availability at one of our favorite parks and discovered an open site so we quickly decided to go for it. In the midst of that, my phone rang and a very frustrated voice on the other end said, “We’re lost!”

They began to throw out road names that were unfamiliar and I was in the middle of a reservation so I tossed the phone to Ken. He had no idea where they were either when all of a sudden one of them shouted the name Hurley and we both knew exactly where they were. He gave them directions and they arrived at our door at the exact time their navigation system had predicted.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21

They didn’t opt for the easiest or best route, 160 north to 14 west, they took the route that was described as “shortest,” apparently one that took them down one-lane roads, over low water crossings which would have been impassable a couple of days earlier, all in the proverbial “middle of nowhere”. They said the road resembled a goat path most of the way. The miracle of this adventure, and I would have to label it a small miracle, was that they had a phone signal when they decided to reach out to us. I believe someone pretty amazing had their backs that day.

This little misadventure leads me to the conclusion that life is filled with detours, large and small, and all too often the path which seems easier may start us down a very slippery slope. Their goat path may have been the shortest route but the shortest is not always the fastest and certainly not always the best. The upside here is that we had a wonderful visit with dear friends, enjoyed a nice dinner together and they pulled out of the restaurant parking lot in Nixa with time to make it back to their RV before dark if they ignored that little voice in the dash and drove straight down 160 and made a left on 76, which they did.

GPS is a beneficial tool and I don’t leave home without it. But that little voice in the car’s system or your phone can become very obnoxious when it decides it knows more than we believe we do. Likewise, that little voice in our heads often tries to tell us that the road it leads us down is a lot more fun, and when it does, we often have a little itch to travel that road for a while. But who do you turn to when you hit a roadblock or find yourself in a sticky mess? It’s often said that more prayers are uttered when humans find themselves in trouble than at any other time. Maybe the better choice, the next time we find ourselves considering giving in to temptation, would be to thoroughly scrutinize our options before choosing a path. God’s way is certainly not always the easiest or shortest, but it is always the best because He sees the whole picture.

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11