Have you ever been driving along with your windows rolled down, the radio blasting, jamming to some tunes and auditioning for an imaginary gig on the American Idol? That's an awesome feeling. I love those days when life is jumping with explosive energy at the exact same time I am. Everything is in order. Life is good. Seize the moment. Then you look around and realize that while you were deep into your fictitious performance, you took a wrong turn and now you are lost.
Welcome to my world. I get lost all the time. It's a simple fact. My mind wanders. I admit it. I am in my own little world when I drive, or should I say, when I'm jamming. I'm not a bad driver. I have automatic reactions to traffic laws, speeding cars and rambunctious children playing in the street. I recognize traffic lights and little old ladies in the crosswalks. However, I do get lost. Consequently, as a defense mechanism due to this lack of focus, I heavily rely on routine. I frequent familiar places and deliberately drive the same route everyday. Park in the same spots. You might say that I point my car in the right direction and flip on the switch to the auto pilot. With this rational, I can afford to indulge myself with my typically high-energy music. A fair compromise in my opinion. Mama is happy. Nevertheless, this system is not without problems and at times, my well thought out course of procedure has been known to fail.
One day while I was cruising, there was a subtle change in my groove and you might say I zigged when I should have zagged. I ended up on the wrong highway going totally in the wrong direction without even so much as a blip on my internal radar screen. There were no 'WRONG ROAD' warning signs screaming at me to turn back. Eventually, though, I began to notice minor changes in the roadside scenery.
"Wow. When did that get put in.", I wondered. "Gee, I never noticed that before" I thought.
Then it hit me. Oh, duh! I was lost, again. An all too familiar scenario. However, I had a well-rehearsed recovery plan. Immediately, I began to look for familiar road signs and markers. I focused. Fortunately, it was not too long before I began to see the guideposts and quickly figured out where I was and how to get home. I found the crossroad. That crossroad led me back home.
Are you on the right road, spiritually speaking? Or, are you be-bopping down the beaten path of life, not attending to anything in particular, enjoying the scenery. Careful not to rock the boat. Just cruising along, cloaked in the false security of a preprogrammed life. Are you concentrating on your eternal destination or ignoring the signs all around? Without full diligence and focus, we are apt to take wrong turns, make wrong decisions. Get turned around a bit. Get distracted.
Everyone loses his or her way from time to time and it can be intensely unsettling, and even, devastating. Nevertheless, the way of reconciliation and hope has been provided. The escape from our personal rationales and precision timing lies directly ahead of us. The ultimate Cross-road. The road of the Cross that intersects the core of our lives, bringing salvation, healing, and eternal life.
Biblical Reference:
Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
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