I read a devotional everyday that comes across my email (Ravi Zacharias International Ministries). The other day it was called “Running with Plan B.” This dovetailed beautifully with my ponderings over God’s will in my life (see Who’s Will Is It?). The conclusion of the devotional was that we all think there is a Plan A, but find ourselves somehow, over the years, in Plan B. My dad says he is on Plan F. By deviating from Plan A, as we see it, we stray from God’s will.

This devotional compared God’s will for our lives to a Global Positioning System, or GPS. We are on a designated route, then because of decisions we make, or sometimes circumstances out of our control, we make a detour. If you have driven with a GPS you know that it begins to squawk, asking you to make a U turn at the soonest opportunity and return to the designated route. You either have to ignore it or turn it off to make peace with your new direction.

It reminds me of the time my sister Phoebe and I spent in Salt Lake City during my cross country trip. The GPS selected route out of Salt Lake City was by freeway, as expected. This particular freeway was completely closed in both directions. There was no clear detour marked. We were forced to deviate, leaning on our own understanding. The GPS went crazy. So did we. We were then driving on total instinct and personal sense of direction. Phoebe’s was different from mine, but by gosh, I was at the wheel. We followed a few rabbit trails, made a few U turns, but eventually came out on an interstate, though not the one we were supposed to be on originally. That interstate led us, quite miraculously, back to the designated route, PAST the portion of the freeway that was closed to us. We were on our way and back in the saddle, a little relieved to not be completely lost.

As Jill Carattini, writer of the devotional put it, the GPS “doesn’t force you to start over or announce that you can no longer make it to your final destination because you have ruined the route. In fact, it doesn’t even make you feel guilty. The end still in mind, it simply adjusts the plan from that point onward, as if the ‘wrong’ turn was a part of the journey all along. The destination has not changed. Plan A may have switched to Plan B, but the outcome will be the same.”

This gives me comfort. I’ve made a few turns and detours, but God is good. My destination is unchanged. With God’s blessing, we adjust from this point onward, the wrong turns part of the journey. My Dad put it beautifully as well. He told me he believes the detours and trials along the way shape and sharpen some aspects of our personalities that need tuning, preparation for God’s Plan A.

God as a GPS? I’d rather think of Him as a UPS…Universal Positioning System.

To read “Running with Plan B,” follow this link.

http://ls.egen.net/MessageView.aspx?sid=167794454&cid=167773165&textonly=0

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