I Love My GPS

I Love My GPS

By Bishop Vashti McKenzie
This week’s topic: God’s Guidance

 I'm in love with my global positioning satellite system! It provides me with the exact location of my car, gives me instruction on how to get somewhere and tells me when I have strayed from a designated journey. If I continue on the wrong track, it will reprogram itself to get me where I want or need to go in spite of the errors of my ways.

As much as I love the GPS in my car, I love my divine GPS in my heart a whole lot better.  

In Psalm 32, David gets onto the wrong track and finally sees the error of his ways. He is now a happy man because God has forgiven his disobedience and covered his sin. The heavy hand of God no longer rests upon this psalmist and he rejoices in the afterglow.

 The psalmist is on a journey from confession to repentance, from prayer to praise and from pardon to the best pathway. In order to gain victory over the life of sin God's guidance is offered. God will tell the way, teach the way and watch over the process. However, along the way there is time to stop, think, and ponder the moment.

 There are three cues to contemplate: "For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer." Selah (V. 4) I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah (V.5) You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah (V.7)
After that then the Lord says "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." (V.8)  

In the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Psalms, the Hebrew word "Selah" appears at the end of a few verses. Selah is considered to be an unspoken Hebrew directive to the musicians or singers to stop, pause, and consider this, measure carefully the meaning of what has been said before moving forward. There may be a deeper meaning and you won't get it unless you stop.  

The tempo of life can move from andante, using music terminology or a moderate pace to the fast pace of allegro or to the loud strength of forte. In order to handle the daily tempos of life we must adjust our pace, which is often driven by the demands of the day.

 Life can become a song out of control or a symphony, harmonizing the diverse sounds of life led by our divine guidance conductor, our God. The temptation is to segue or move into the next stanza of living without pausing to reflex, renew, restore or revive. There is always so much to do with little time to get it done. We tend to rush from one thing to the next skimming along the surface because we don't have enough time to dig in.  

In order to get the most out of the GPS, you first must confess that you're headed in the wrong direction and surrender the guidance to the satellite system. In our faith journey, you first must confess like David that you're headed in the wrong direction and surrender yourself to the Lord's instruction.  

Your Selah comes when you stop long enough to measure, weigh, and consider this before moving forward. There may be a deeper meaning to what is going on in your life and a deeper relationship available with God. You may miss it because you insist on going your own way or you're moving too fast.  

Step back from the melody. Listen to the psalms you've been singing. Recalibrate and reset your course. Love your divine GPS and allow God to guide you the rest of the way!  

Scripture Of The Day: "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you." - Psalm 32:8 (NLT)