Just Turn Left!

Headed in the wrong direction and not sure which way to turn. Alone, confused, exhausted, lost.

I’m sweating. I’m exhausted. My hand is scraped and bruised a little bit, and my jeans are covered in dust and dog slobber. Happy to be out of my car, this morning’s adventure left a humble residue on my heart and mind.

“Just turn left,” she said. So I turned left. Then I wandered up a gravel road that nearly landed my car in a tree. Wrong way! So I went further left…that was a dead end. I thought, Well, I guess I’ll have to go right then. Maybe she was facing the other way when she said to go left or somehow forgot about this turn.

I went right, and I tried every path that I saw to take but it felt like I’d gone too far, so I went back to where I’d driven originally. I guess I’ll try it again, I concluded, and just go a little farther. Oh wait. Nope…now I’m in someone’s driveway and they’ve come outside to see who the intruder is. At this point in my journey, I thought seriously about giving up. I wasn’t sure my Facebook Marketplace find was really going to be worth all of this. I pulled up my GPS, but it couldn’t make sense of all these wooded, curvy backroads.

Reluctantly, I kept driving and passed a neighbor out for a walk. She eyed me curiously; clearly, I looked like I didn’t belong or know where I was going. I tried going right again but went farther. Nothing felt familiar. Yep, I’m officially lost. I’m tired and ready to go home. And this is kind of embarrassing.

“STAY RIGHT THERE! I’M COMING TO GET YOU.”

It had been a solid half hour by this point of me driving in circles, going up random people’s drives, and turning around and around again. She called me on the phone and said, “Stay right there! I’m coming to get you.” A wave of relief swept over me. I wasn’t alone. This sweet woman led me to her house, and together we loaded my car with the adorable sofa I’d been on a mission to get for our new home. It was heavy and awkward, and we had to shift the weight all around in order to finagle the couch out the front door. Her adorable dog accompanied us out onto the driveway, sweet slobbery mouth grazing my leg. Mission accomplished.

SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING.

Have you ever felt like this, though? Heading in every direction you know to go, and nothing seems right? I think spiritually and personally, so many of us do this all the time. We see this path to the left, so we try it. It doesn’t go where we thought it would, so we try something else. Nope, still not what we were searching for. We think, Well, maybe I just didn’t try hard enough or go far enough, so we circle back around and try harder. But in the end, things just don’t pan out, and we end up feeling like a failure. And by the way, what were we searching for anyway? Maybe we’re not even sure anymore.

It’s frustrating. Exhausting. So, you know what happens next…we go right back to our comfort zone. Right back to those old ways of doing life, those old habits, unhealthy relationships, unfulfilling ways of life and busyness. But what if the directions we were given weren’t quite right, or what if the voices we were listening to didn’t fully take into account the actual path in front of us?

TWO THINGS.

First, I’m reminded today that God’s Word alone must be our true north. If we’re getting our directions for life from anyone or anywhere else, they simply won’t get us where we are supposed to be going. He has authored the unique day ahead of each one of us, after all, and has the one and only full understanding of our circumstances - past, present and future. He can see every bend in the road before we take a single left or right. His Word is unchanging and comes to live every time we turn to Him and seek His voice.

Second, we need someone to tell us, “Stay right there. I’m coming to get you.” We need them to help us, to not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and do some heavy lifting together with us. This is what discipleship is all about.

You’re not alone.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21

Curious about discipleship? Click here to learn more or check out the Small Batch Discipleship book to find your true north.