The squad leader stopped hiking up the embankment and took a second to scan the area. Once positive they were alone and not followed or spotted, he swung his .50 over his shoulder and motioned for the man behind him to step up. He clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder and encouraged him to remove his pack.
Lifting out a pair of binoculars and a laminated map, the man sprawled the paper out over a rock. The leader handed the binoculars to another man who scanned the horizon. He knelt beside his navigation officer and listened as the man pointed to their location.
“We’re here, sir, about four clicks northwest of the landing site,” he said quietly, tracing his gloved index finger along the map. “I think if we go straight south about a mile and cut west around Jump Rock Point, we should make it by nightfall.”
The leader looked to the sky. It was roughly two in the afternoon. “Isn’t Jump Rock Point swamped with bogies?”
“There’s plenty of rocks, sir, for cover. It’s our best option.”
Smacking loudly on a piece of gum, he brought the gun back around into his hands and nodded firmly. Clapping a hand on the navigator’s shoulder, he got up and jerked his head forward to signal the men it was time to move.
I’ve found that navigation is something, frankly, I’m just not good at.
After passing geography by the skin of my teeth, I’ve stayed as far away from maps as the sun is from the Earth. I couldn’t tell you the fastest route to Switzerland or explain what a click is, or describe what type of terrain a map suggests. I’m a leader, don’t get me wrong, but a navigator?
Maps aren’t the only thing I can’t navigate well. Life, well that’s a toughie too. I’ve tried to navigate my life before by making my own decisions and not caring what God wants and desires for me. It doesn’t end well. Usually I end up somewhere along the lines of up a creek without a paddle. I make mistakes that require Jesus’ strong arm and graciousness to get me out of them.
It’s easier, my friends, to let God take the navigation/leadership position. God knows everything yesterday, today, and forever more (Hebrews 13:8). He knows the plans he has for every single person ever to live and plans a good life for you (Jeremiah 29:11), and he will lead us along still waters and restores us (Psalm 23), and if we ask Him to lead us and guide our lives, He will lead us on a path everlasting that won’t fail (Psalm 139: 24).
God is a good navigator! Not only does He know everything about us individually, He created the Earth and all its contents. He knows geography better than anyone else! By divine wisdom he charted the very foundations of the Earth (Proverbs 3:19). While the course God sets for us is good, it won’t always be easy (John 15:20). But, God is greater than the ways of man and He will be faithful and lift us up above our problems (Isaiah 40:28-31).
With God as the navigator, you don’t have to be worried about being lost, or wondering how life got the way it did. When God is in control, there is not out of control. He has you, no matter what. He cares enough too, to sit in the passenger’s seat until you decide to switch seats with Him. He wants you to relinquish the controls and sit back with trust, patience and love for him. He wants to do everything.
All we need is to hand over this map we call life, and let Him do the rest.
