Map Quest

I don’t like to brag but I am an expert map folder. (folderer? I fold them, I don’t file them.) Anyway, I can put the map back together in correct folded-order on the first try. Even while driving. Please don’t tell the DPS.

This used to be quite a handy skill in the days before GPS navigation systems. Now, it seems paper maps are headed the way of Polaroid film. I love maps. Spread one out on a table and you can see the whole city or state at one time. Can’t do that with the fancy, schmancy GPS navigation system.

Maps also are a great way to look into the past. The world is constantly changing. It has been for, well always, so maps have been updated for the same length of time. Antique maps are a wonderful way to see how our world used to look before we “improved” upon it.

I love looking at old maps of Texas. Did you know that Texas was originally so awesomely big that part of Colorado actually was apart of the State of Texas. Can’t get that kind of history with a GPS navigation system.

But what I like most about maps is that they show the world as it is. They mark the intersections, the valleys, the mountain peaks, the dead ends and the straight-away highways.

Whenever I drive on a long trip I like to get my maps, lay them out and highlight my route. That way I know where I’m going, how long it will take, what cities I should get gas in, where I think I will be by nightfall, and what sights I might pass along my way. (I am a sucker for historical markers and small town museums.) I have never had a boring journey.

Never, in all the many times I have mapped out my routes, have I ever highlighted a straight line. Can’t be done. No road, even when planned by the best city, state, civil planners or corps of engineers goes straight forever. Eventually, it will run into a rock formation, a canyon, a river, a housing complex, a forest, an ocean, a lake, a mole hill. There will be detours.

Maps are great and all when I’m driving but what I really need right now is life-map. They don’t sell life-maps at the gas-station. And there is for sure no GPS navigation system to help me. What in the world am I going to spread across my dining room table? Sure there are actual maps in the bible but really those are of no help here. (Well maybe if I’m going to the Dead Sea on vacation but I’ve no plans for that.) So, how do I get to where I need to go?

So? So, I'll follow the One who has the map.

I went on a trip once to a friend’s river cabin. A whole group of us went. Several carloads of people. We all followed each other. I didn’t know how to get there on my own. I followed the one who knew the way. And I got there safe and sound.

That’s what I’ll do now. I’m going to follow the One who knows the way.

I know that I won’t know what’s up ahead because I’m not the one holding the map. I won’t see that valley coming or that big, fabulous mountain peak either. I’ll just have to be surprised. The path is sure to have lots of twists and turns and probably even a few round-a-bouts I'll get stuck in (ever driven in Europe?). And I imagine there might be a few versions of the map in use, afterall the Map Reader knows my history and I do keep changing. But I know if I keep my eyes straight ahead on Him I will not get lost.

Jesus has the map and He’s been interpreting them a lot longer than I have. He will help me with the dangers and pitfalls I’ll encounter. And He will be with me when there is more joy than my heart can hold. I have every confidence that if I follow Him I will complete my journey and reach my destination safe and sound. And I know it will not be boring.

I just hope He likes to stop off at the historical markers and museums.

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