We were immersed in a stimulating conversation. What it was about? – for the life of me I can’t remember, but it must have been deep and philosophical because it made me miss my exit. I heard the dreaded command from Gruzelda, (that’s what I call my car navigational contraption because at times she can get on my last good nerve), “Re-routing.” That word snapped me out of our conversation. “Oh no, that can’t be good,” I thought. I looked at my GPS where moments ago I only had eight miles to go, and now I had twenty miles to go.
I was on a trip with my mother-in-law. We were heading to Stillwater, Oklahoma. The route from Tulsa to Stillwater is by turnpike only. If you have ever traveled down a turnpike in Oklahoma, you know there are zero exits or turn arounds. I am exaggerating, but when you miss an exit, it feels as if the next exit is an infinity away.
I began scrolling through my route on good ole Gruzelda. Further and further I scrolled up the blue navigational line that highlighted my future roads. I was wanting to look ahead so I get prepare myself to be observant of my next exit. I guess I went to far into the future because all of a sudden Gruzelda said, “Re-centering,” and my little blue arrow that represents my car, recentered itself back to my current position. “No, No, No!” That is not what I want. I want to see further down the road. I want to see what exits are in my future.
Re-centering. I’ve thought a lot about that word every since I experienced that command from my GPS system. I want to look into my future. I want to be prepared for whatever my come my way, but Jesus warns me, “The only way I can be ready is to be centered on Him.” He wants me to be present in the moment, and when Jesus is the center of my life, I won’t miss important exits or commands or missed opportunities or the presents He brings.
As we begin a new year, let Jesus re-center our lives around Him.
PS. We didn’t stay lost long. My mother-in-law and I did make it to Stillwater. It took us forty-five extra minutes. Jesus will always get us where we need to go, and He really doesn’t care how long it takes us.