When I don’t know the way, I depend on my GPS to get me where I’m going.
Turn right.
Merge left.
Take the second right.
I love the little voice that guides me.
Over 2500 years ago, Isaiah wrote of another guiding voice.
Isaiah 30:21 (NLT)
Your own ears will hear him.
Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
whether to the right or to the left.
The Lord my God — better than GPS! 
I dreamed that my father had a map with every road on it. I admired his map. I coveted his map. I begged for his map.
He wouldn’t give it to me. He said, “You don’t need to know every road. You need to know the road you’re on right now.”
This dream has a spiritual message:
I want to know:
God says, “You don’t need to know. I’ll show you the way.”
I stand at the intersection of two passages of Scripture.
Matthew 6:13 (ESV)
Lead us not into temptation.
Psalm 23:3
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
One path is the wrong way.
The other is the right way.
The choice should be obvious. 
Our congregation’s usual Sunday practice is to pray the Lord’s Prayer, including:
Matthe 6:13 (ESV)
Lead us not into temptation.
I picture Jesus blocking my path to temptation with a roll of yellow caution tape. Truth be told, I sometimes sneak under the tape, only to regret it later.
My bad, God. I’m sorry.
Matthew 5:14 (NASB)
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Have you flown over an urban area at night? Lights define the city center, the roads and parking lots.
Picture a dark world. Every Christian is a point of light. Where many Christians live and work, there’s much light. Other areas are mostly black with an occasional point of light.
Where are you?
Psalm 119:105 (ESV)
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
God’s Word — not my cellphone — lights my way. The Bible always points me in the right direction (my cellphone isn’t always right).
Apparently, I need to ponder letting my light shine:
Matthew 5:16 (NLT)
Let your good deeds shine out for all to see.
Three times in two days.
OK, Lord, You have my attention.
What do You want me to do?
It occurs to me that the quotation I planned for today applies to Queen Elizabeth:
“Praise to the Lord,
who doth prosper thy work,
and defend thee.
Surely God’s goodness and mercy
here daily attend thee.”
Joachim Neander, 1680
Trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1863
O Lord, may your goodness and mercy here daily attend us all. Prosper our work, in Jesus’ name.
