As my husband and I experimented with the new GPS in our car, we had some laughs. We’d set a target destination, and the GPS would set our course. If we started down a different route, or stopped moving in the direction chosen by the navigation system, a cool, calm voice would say, “Recalculating…recalculating.” It didn’t matter how far off we strayed; our GPS always rerouted us until we arrived at our destination.
In my life I have often set a “target destination,” only to run into a roadblock or veer off on an unexpected course. Thankfully, God has always been faithful to “reroute” me and get me exactly where He wants me to be.
One of my targets was to be a mother. When I was a young married adult, the time seemed right to start a family. But to my surprise, my long-held dreams bumped into an insurmountable obstacle: infertility.
“Whatever happened to my ‘destination’?” I cried out to the Lord.
“Recalculating.”
As I struggled to relinquish my desire to bear a child, the Lord lovingly redirected my steps. He reset my route and allowed us to adopt and raise four precious children.
Eighteen years later, I found myself in an unexpected, unwanted divorce. If ever I needed the Lord, it was in the heartbreak of a broken relationship that I hadn’t realized was broken—until it was too late.
“Recalculating.”
Single again in my 40s, I faced dead ends and blind alleys. Again and again I relinquished my direction to God. He faithfully accompanied me and redirected me on my grief-filled journey—bringing me into wholeness as an individual, then eventually gifting me with a godly husband and two loving stepdaughters.
Today I can joyfully tell you hat God is more trustworthy than any GPS! Although I wanted a smooth, unhindered journey, I learned so much in the detours. It was in those times that I came to recognize the intimacy of my Father’s voice and realize that my ultimate “destination” was to be more Jesus, less Joan: the hope of Christ in me.
