What to do When We Lose Our Way
Staying connected to our directional guide especially during the Christmas season.
With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalms 119:10–11, KJV)
A slight nervousness was detectable in her voice when she called me from her old-model cell phone with no maps. “Jenny, I’m lost,” she said. I had offered to drive my elderly friend, but she refused, saying, “I can do it.” She wanted to hold on to her independence, and it was a short drive to the restaurant where we frequent for lunch.
I maintained a calm voice and asked her, “What do you see?” Berniece could not see a street sign, a billboard, or a specific building. Her answer was, “Houses.” As panic rose in my heart, I said a silent prayer.
I told Berniece, “Pull over. Survey your surroundings.”
Suddenly, she was able to identify a building. I gave her instructions, including one to hang up the phone. When she arrived, I was relieved that my dear, sweet friend had made it safely. I lifted a prayer of gratitude.
Losing our way happens to most of us at one time or another. Christmas is especially true. We get lost in the chores, deadlines, appointments, commitments, trials, and even zealous church work.
All of a sudden, we can’t hear the sweet, guiding voice of Jesus. Although God never loses sight of us, we can let outward issues cause us to unplug from Him. It will be evident in our external attributes of anxiousness, fatigue, irritability, and impatience. Everyone and everything begins to irk us. Any joy that is supposed to come with Christmas is negligible.
The problem is, if we had focused on God, we would have never gotten lost in the first place. Staying plugged into our source of direction is vital. We begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23, NIV)
Joni Ereckson Tada says it well in her devotional, Never Disconnect from Him:
In this era of omnipresent electronic devices, we might imagine “abiding in Christ” is similar to plugging a phone into an outlet. We sit down for our quiet time and ask ourselves, how long do I have to be plugged into God today to get a good spiritual charge? But Jesus never said, “I am the power cord, and you are the cell phone.” No, he says, “I am the vine; you are the branch.”
She uses this scripture:
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 16:5, ESV)
We cannot be like an electric vehicle and plug into Christ for a few hours and expect to go forever on that charge. We must abide in Him all day and acknowledge Him in all our endeavors. Soon, we will get back on track as we lay back in His arms. He will be our compass and road map if we let Him do the navigation.
