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“They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?.’” (Ex. 14:11)

I tend to be a planner, planning as much as I can as far ahead as I can and getting irritated with anything that gets in the way. So it was only natural recently when I was planning a trip that after getting my airline ticket on-line, I mapped out the ground plan.

I was flying into a major city airport at afternoon rush hour. I didn’t want to take the time and expense of a cab ride, so I checked the train schedule and found out I could get on at the airport and off near my hotel. The distance from the train station to the hotel was less than a mile straight down a well traveled road and then three blocks on another street. I decided I could walk and get some evening exercise.

Initially, all went as planned. I walked past three perfectly good waiting cabs and proceeded down the road. It was dark by then, but the sidewalks were wide and the lighting good. Then, about a half mile into it, the sidewalks ceased, as did the lighting.

It was then I realized I had to walk under an Interstate highway. There I was, walking on the highway in the dark, wearing a dark suit, pulling my luggage and wondering how many pair of eyes were looking at me from the underbrush. Would I get run over or mugged? At least I had voted before I left.

The road forked and I went the wrong way. Finally, after walking a couple of miles in a circuitous route, I found my hotel and wondered if those cabs were still waiting at the train station. It had looked so easy and short on the map.

When our children were small, we would use each trip as a geography lesson and show them our journey on a map. It looked so short. Maybe that’s why about an hour into the trip they would ask, “Daddy are we there yet?”

The map of life is like that. Our plans look so easy on paper, but walking out life’s journeys is quite another story. Look at the journey out of Egypt when the people asked Moses if he brought them into the desert to die.

The key is that we have a map and in order to use it, we have to have a specific destination. If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.

I’m amazed that so often when I think I know where I’m going God shows me I’m absolutely wrong. Certainly I do wander off of the path every once in a while, but God brings me back to that path again and again. He is faithful in doing this no matter how far I stray.

As long as God’s will is your destination, He will provide the map to get you there, so follow His map for your life and enjoy the journey.

Questions: How do you respond when your plans don’t work out?  What steps can you take to become more dependent on God?

TAKE THE NEXT STEP: Check your compass

About the Author John Grant

What are you seeking for most?  What does your soul crave? Take this online Study.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

“If you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul”  (Deuteronomy 4:29).

We make frequent trips to countries outside our own. We have learned how to make lists of necessary items, take only essential clothing, tuck small objects into corners of our luggage, and identify each suitcase. We make sure necessary medications and one change of clothing are in our carry on bags.

On this last trip I decided to leave my prescription sunglasses at home, taking only a much less expensive pair with me in case of loss or breakage. It was a good journey with all the goals of our project accomplished. Tired but happy upon returning home after two weeks, I began the lengthy process of unpacking, washing clothes and settling back into a somewhat normal routine.

Where were my sunglasses? I looked in the catch-all basket on the entryway table – the most obvious place. Then I searched in desk and bedroom chest drawers, purses, coat pockets. My somewhat relaxed search began taking on intentionality. I began looking in improbable places: wastebaskets, kitchen cupboards, the laundry room shelf. Could I have left the glasses in my car? Maybe they slipped down between the seats.

After several days of fruitless searching, I had just about resigned myself to the fact that I would need to purchase new glasses. As I unlocked my car one morning, I decided to take one more look. Stooping down to look under the seat, I found them! The black case had blended into the floor mat, making it almost invisible.

We frequently say we wish we knew God better. How is it that some people seem to discover more about Gods character than we do? Why are the experiences of others richer than our own? What is the process that friends use to uncover “gems” from the Bible when our own attempts produce mere facts?

The word seek implies intentional pursuit. So often in our busy lives we take time only for surface investigation, a few quickly read Bible verses, a hurried journey through our prayer list. Our minds are engaged but all our heart and soul is occupied with self-orientation.

God promises to give us what we truly seek. In fact, in some mysterious and wonderful way, He joins us in the search and rejoices when what we seek is found!

God, I confess that my search for material items is so often more intentional than my search for you. Remind me, Father, that you will richly uncover what I desperately seek.  Amen.

Questions: What is the process that people use to uncover “gems” from the Bible? What does the word “seek” mean?  What are you seeking in your life?

About the Author Marilyn J. Ehle

Please open your Bible and read Genesis 2:25 -3:10.

Take a trip with me back in time. Way back to the dawn of creation, when Adam & Eve lived the good life in the Garden of Eden. They had a pretty sweet deal there. That is, until that infamous day, when as politicians are sometimes fond of saying, in gross understatement, “Mistakes were made”. But Adam & Eve didn’t just make a mistake; they sinned by disobeying God’s clear instructions. (Genesis 2:16-17)

We are told that just before the incident neither Adam nor Eve felt any shame (Gen 2:25). Yet just afterwards, how quickly their behavior reflects their change in disposition: “Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees.” (Genesis 3:8) Gee, that makes sense. “God’s coming! Quick! Into the trees!”

This sad event marked the beginning of humankind’s tenancy to try to hide from God. We still try to hide from God today. How futile is that? We have to remember that whatever is done in “secret” is not really secret at all. Even if we have been able to fool our family and friends, God is not fooled, and He “carefully watches the way people live; He sees everything they do.” (Job 34:21). Our attempts to hide our sin amount to nothing more than hiding among the trees.

Do we keep secret sin hidden in our hearts? Even as Christians, who personally know Jesus our God, and have been redeemed by His blood? Unfortunately, even as new creations, we are still sinners. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

But we also live with constant hope, because we know that by continually returning to God by repenting and readjusting our lives whenever we recognize our sin, God’s provision in Christ will cover us: “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong” (1 John 1:9).

Questions: Do you have some secret sins that you are trying to hide from God?  Why do we try to hide from God?  How have you applied the verse 1 John 1:9 to your life?

About this Author Darren Hewer

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Jesus Suffered Our Pain, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

When my daughter was four we had an opportunity to live in England for 9 months.  It was a wonderful experience.  Our assignment was up in December so we packed up our household to ship it back to the States; packed a suitcase for each of us and headed off to Germany to visit some friends we had made during a work assignment before our daughter was born.  We celebrated an early English Christmas with our new friends in England and then celebrated an early German/American Christmas with our friends in Germany.

As it turned out, we arrived in the USA on Christmas Eve with no luggage and no rental car.   We were all very travel weary and not too happy to be “stranded” with what we had on our persons and not many options available on Christmas Eve to get some basics such as clean underwear, pajamas, etc.  The airline and motel graciously gave us toothbrushes, etc but most stores are not open on Christmas Day so we were stuck.  We had planned to take a rental car to visit my family but there were no rental cars to be had that Christmas Eve.  Somehow our reservation got lost.

We dragged our travel weary bodies to a nice hotel near the airport and decided to make the best of things.   My brother offered to come and get us but we turned down his offer not wanting to disrupt his holiday with a long road trip.

Christmas morning we treated ourselves to a nice breakfast at the hotel dining room.   On the way back to our room, I was overcome with nausea and spent the rest of the day flat in bed.

Here we were on Christmas day with no change of clothes, no family, no tree, and no gifts for my daughter.  Rather than get upset, I decided to count my blessings.   We were safe, we had just had an adventure of a lifetime, we had good food to eat, a nice place to stay and our basic needs were met.  How many people in the world would gladly change places with us at that moment?

Later that day the car rental company found a car for us, I was feeling better and the weather was just perfect for heading north so before the day was over we were able to be with my family for this special day.

I learned a valuable lesson that day.  Christmas is a special time but it isn’t about gifts, decorations and all the external things.   Christmas is realizing that Jesus came to bring us hope…not just a fleeting hope…but a genuine hope that He will work all things together for good to them who are called according to his purpose.   He promised to supply our needs and He did. What more could I need or want?

Father God,
Thank you for the promise of Your provision. Even when things don’t look hopeful help me to anticipate Your help and strength and to see Your blessings where I am today. In Your name, amen.

Questions: How do you respond when things don’t go according to plan?

About this Author: Joyce Gardenour

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, 24-Hour Faith, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog