The Next Turn

Every driver who has used Google Maps knows the experience. You type in a destination — say, a restaurant across town you have never visited — and the app calculates a route. But here is what makes GPS navigation so remarkable: it does not hand you a forty-step printout and wish you well. It gives you one instruction at a time. "Turn right in 300 feet." You obey that single direction, and only then does the next instruction appear. "Continue for two miles." Then, "Take the exit on your left."

You cannot see step fourteen while you are still on step three. The entire journey unfolds one act of trust at a time.

God often leads us the same way. We want the full blueprint — every twist and detour mapped out before we take the first step. But the Lord tends to reveal just enough light for the next faithful act. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart," the Proverb says, "and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."

And here is the part every GPS user also knows: when you ignore the instruction — when you skip the turn because you think you know a shortcut — the app pauses and then speaks those humbling words: "Recalculating."

God does not abandon us when we veer off course. He recalculates. But how much smoother the journey when we simply follow the next turn He reveals.