Have you ever been lost?  Of course you have!  What a silly question!  But have you ever been really and dreadfully lost on the road?  You have a map.  You can even read it.  You know which way is North.  You know which way you're going, but you are still just lost.  This happened to me once.

I was with Cyndi on our way from our college in southwest Missouri to Indianapolis.  We were going through St. Louis and I had been through this tricky interchange (40 E to 70 E) only once before, and wouldn't you know it?  I took a wrong turn.  We stopped at a gas station not so we could ask directions, but so I could check my map.  I struggled with it for a few minutes, but just couldn't get my bearings!  Then Cyndi had an idea: Why don't we just drive around a bit and see if we can....  I can't remember the rest of what she said, because my mind was already in gear: ...see if we can what, get even more lost? (I didn't say that).  Nevertheless, I decided to not be a typical male and to listen to her.  We drove toward the street.  "Which way?"

"Ummmm...that way," she pointed.  So that is which way I went.  And everytime we got to an intersection, I would say, "Now which way," admittedly hoping she might give up and I could resume my frustrations with the map, but all the while still reserving a sense of wonder if we did actually find our way.  Well, lo and behold, just a few turns after we started this little hit and miss game, there was the sign, "TOO HGHWY."  I conceded and praised Cyndi for her intuitive way.

Did I miss something here?  I had my map, so I could find my way.  Ok, so I missed a turn.  But I should have been able to get back, but I couldn't.  Then someone who seems to "feel" her way around steps in and there we are, back on the road again.  I, still using my map, but eternally thankful that she was there to help me.

I like having all my ducks in a row.  I like there to be a good plan to follow.  Cyndi didn't have a plan.  She didn't KNOW for SURE where she was going.  I didn't know for sure if we would get caught in the "wrong part of town" and be stranded, or what.  But I trusted.  And we found our way.

I've found the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be like that.  He has given us His Book.  We follow that map, but every now and again we get confused and lose the way.  Then the Holy Spirit gently taps us on the shoulder (so to speak) and speaks to the heart, "Go there.  Do it like this.  Don't go there.  Talk to that person over there.  Help this one here.  Settle down; you'll be ok--it's just superglue."  All of the sudden--for me, anyway--I find my way back to the path.  And my heart is filled with joy.

I don't always understand how He guides.  But I trust what He tells me through His Word and through the promptings when I'm at my wit's end.  And I acknowledge that it is He who guides me.  And then my paths are straight and level.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight."

Tested.  Tried.  True.