Josh Farthing, General Coordinator of the Victory Leaders Band
The travel industry agrees that the summer of 2020 will be the summer of the road trip. More people are hitting the open road to see the sights the world has to offer and doing so safely from the comfort of their vehicles. There are roughly 65 million miles of road on this big beautiful earth. With that thought in mind, there are more roads than what you would ever be able to travel in your lifetime. With so many options, how can one choose the best roads? Sometimes the best roads don’t always lead to the best places.
When I became old enough to drive and go on my own road trips, I actually had to hold an atlas in my hand and draw out the route I wanted to take. This was a few years before Google Maps, or any popular digital map was invented. It required a little more effort in trying to figure out where I was along the trip. I would do that by looking at mile markers, exit numbers, and names of highways.
Nowadays, mapping where I want to go is easy. All I have to do is say, “Hey Siri, get me directions” and I’m on my way. Have you ever considered how much trust we’re placing in someone who isn’t real to get us to a place that is real? We make every turn we are told to make without double checking it on a real map. Then Siri says, “You have arrived at your destination.” I’ve learned, that just because someone tells me I’m where I’m supposed to be, doesn’t always mean I’m where I’m supposed to be.
There are places we want to be, and then there are places we are meant to be. I read a quote recently that said, “Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take.” Maybe you didn’t want to take that detour because it inconvenienced you, but it led you where you were meant to be.
Life is a lot like a road trip. There are so many roads our lives could travel on, but which road is the best? For teenagers and young adults, they are constantly asking themselves that question. This is because they are faced with the pressures of choosing a school, a career, or even a spouse. The road you choose to take at a young age may be the road you travel on for the rest of your life. So, choose wisely.
When I was a teenager, I had my entire life planned out. I knew exactly what kind of vehicle I was going to drive, what kind of career I was going to get into, and even where I was going to live. I thought I knew the roads I wanted to travel. Well… here I am 20 years later, and NOTHING has gone as planned and it seemed my life had taken a major detour. This is because God had another plan for me. It’s very different from the one I had for myself, but I can assure you, His plan has been great!
The LORD says in Isaiah 55:8, 9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, Victory Leaders Band Josh Farthing, General Coordinator saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
God knows what is best for your life’s road trip. If you don’t have any problem trusting Siri (who isn’t a real person) to get you to your destination, then surely you can trust God (who is real) to get you where you are meant to be.
Maybe you have already made a wrong turn in life, and ended somewhere you didn’t need to be? The only way to fix it, is to turn around. It doesn’t make sense to keep driving down the wrong road.
When we are young, we tend to focus on what we want, therefore the plans we make for our lives’ road trips are all about us—what we want to be, where we want to go, and how we want to get there. Proverbs 3:6 says,
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” This verse of Scripture lets us know that our lives’ road trips aren’t all about us; they’re about God and us. There is a beautiful journey ahead of you, if you will acknowledge God in your life and always allow Him to give you directions. Please, don’t be road tripping without God. This idea that all roads lead to the same place simply isn’t true. God can see the other end of the road—He knows which is best for you.
It is with these thoughts that I present to you the new VLB theme, “MY ROAD TRIP.” Acknowledge God and let Him direct your paths.