When GPS Gets It Wrong: Following the True Navigator in a World Full of Distractions

Photo by Antony Freitas on Unsplash

Have you ever gotten lost before?

I suspect all of us have at some point—whether in a store, in the woods, or out on the road.

These days, most drivers set out with confidence, especially with GPS at our fingertips. But even GPS can lead us astray.

That happened to me recently.

Last week was our Spring meeting for our local Baptist Association, held at a church I’d never visited before. I had been to the neighborhood, but never the church itself.

So off I went.

I figured I had plenty of time, even after lunch. But lunch took longer than expected, and suddenly I was in a time crunch.

Then things started to unravel.

I had already scouted the location and checked the GPS for an estimated drive time. It looked like a pretty straight shot, so I waited to start the route guidance until I got closer.

But along the way, I remembered I had forgotten a Bluetooth speaker our Worship Leader had asked me to bring. I didn’t have time to turn around, so I called her to let her know.

While I was talking with her, I started the GPS. But something was off. The road looked familiar, but it wasn’t taking me where I needed to go. I had actually circled back to one of the main roads. The GPS had led me the wrong way.

Once I realized what was happening, I corrected the route and got reoriented.

I arrived a few minutes late and found no parking. The church lot held maybe a couple dozen cars, and about sixty people were already there. I finally found a spot and slipped into the back row beside a buddy of mine.

As I told him what had happened, he laughed and said he got turned around too. He had been taken to the other entrance (which come to find out this happened to multiple people and people who had been to the church before had warned associational leadership about this possible misstep in the past). The church sits just outside the back gate of a gated neighborhood that has two entrances.

There are a lot of great verses about finding the right way. Early Christians were even called followers of the Way.

But the one I keep thinking about is Psalm 32:8:

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

God reminds us that He will guide us. But how often do we miss His way? Sometimes it's because we assume we know where we’re going. Other times, it’s because we rely on something or someone else more than we trust Him.

Some of those tools, like GPS, aren’t bad. But others truly are trying to steer us away from God and His best for us.

Jesus put it plainly in Matthew 7:13:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.”

Let’s focus on the real GPS: Jesus. The Way, the Truth, and the Life. He will lead us with loving counsel and keep our feet on the right path.

Make sure what you're following is really leading you where God wants you to go.

Anyway, I was just thinking…