In Isaiah 58:11 God gives us a promise to always guide us. He says, “I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places.”

Where God guides, God provides. If he brought you to it, he will bring you through it. If there’s a mountain to climb, he will make you a mountain climber. If there’s a war to fight, he will turn you into a warrior. You can fully trust that God is using anything and everything you’re currently going through to prepare you for where he is taking you next.

I use the Google Maps on my phone to take me everywhere. I never plan my route in advance, I don’t even look at the directions, I just input my destination, and I go. This drives my husband crazy. However I’m directionally challenged and typically following specific commands gives me much better odds of actually arriving at my desired destination than navigating on my own does. (Yes, I’m the girl who just last week wandered around the WalMart parking lot for a solid 5 minutes searching for my car. I do believe someone moves my car while I’m shopping just to watch me wander around lost. Ya’ll I can’t be trusted without a map!)

When the kind lady in my phone says “turn right”, I just turn right. There has been the rare occasion that the kind lady has brought me to the heart of the ghetto, arrived in front of a boarded up shack and said “you’ve arrived at your destination.” True story. On the wrong side of Tulsao, OK. I didn’t get out.

Thankfully God is never going to lead us to the wrong destination. He knows exactly what he is doing. God had a plan for your life before he even created you and the way has always been made. He never gets it wrong, ever. Where he guides you, you can fully trust is the way to go. If God is taking you to the ghetto, it’s about to get good my friend, and it’s not by mistake!

There has also been the occasion where the kind lady in my phone who knows everything will tell me to turn, and I miss it. I’m not paying attention, I’m delayed in my reaction, or I’m in the wrong lane. What happens when you miss your turn? The smart lady in your phone will immediately begin rerouting you. My GPS is quite accustom to rerouting because I often don’t get it right the first time.

How about you? Do you get it right the first time? Are you always on que with God and following his directions, or do you get a little lost along the way like me? God is the master at rerouting. Oh how he is patient with us. Okay, so you missed your turn … I’ve got this.

God may have had the perfect job lined up for you, all you had to do was turn right. But you didn’t. You didn’t turn in your resume. You didn’t pursue that interview. So you missed the opportunity. Now God is rerouting you.

God may have had the love of your life just ahead on the left, but you flew right on by and missed him. No worries girl, God can reroute you and loop you back around for another shot.

God also may have had the answer to your prayers 3 blocks ahead, but you were stubborn and stopped when you should have kept going. The way is still made for you. Maybe you should get going again.

When you are rerouted, you are no longer on the optimal and fastest route, but you will still get there. Some of us are perpetually on the rerouted plan. We don’t quite follow directions the first time around. We question and doubt God’s sovereign plan and his mighty ways, so we take the long way.

I wonder when we will stop that? I wonder when we will finally understand that God has a plan, it’s a good plan, and he is showing us where to go. Nothing is by accident and if we will stay alert and aware, we will see how everything is working together to bring us exactly where we should be.

His promise is to always show you where to go, now following is completely up to you. Following God’s guidance is an act of obedience and surrender. Some of us like control a little too much for this way of living, don’t we? Some of us need the 10 step plan before taking step 1. Some of us like to take a perfectly good plan and make it more complicated than it really needs to be. Understand, all we’re doing is delaying ourselves.

If God told you he has something mind-blowingly awesome 3 miles ahead for you, with 5 turns required, wouldn’t you want to get there as fast as you can? Wouldn’t you want to arrive at your destination with only 5 turns instead of 10? Wouldn’t you avoid the extra delays and detours to get to where God has this mind-blowingly awesome thing for you? Of course you would!

Understand this is exactly what he has for you. Our scripture today says “I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places.” My personal translation says “I have mind-blowingly awesome things ahead for you girl.” God wants to give you a full life. A BIG life. A life of purpose and meaning. A life you will be totally in love with. A life that makes you come alive with passion and a fire deep within your soul. This is his plan for you, and he has a way to get there.

Today, God is guiding you. Won’t you follow him? Won’t you trust his way? Listen closely as he prompts you to slow down. Don’t miss what he has for you. And should you miss your turn, don’t you worry sister … God knows ALL the ways to get you where you need to go in life. It may take a little longer, and the back roads to your destination may be required, but you’ll get there. God is guiding you.

No matter how many wrong turns I’ve taken on my journey, my kind lady in my phone has never given up on me. Never once has she said, “you’re screwed, I give up.” Nope, she just keeps rerouting. Occasionally she will say, proceed to the route. And when I continue going in the wrong direction through some dark parking lot, she sweetly says again “proceed to the route.”

God hasn’t given up on you. No matter how many wrong turns and epic mistakes you have made, he’s still watching you, tracking you and guiding you. Proceed to the route. Get back on track now. Today.

Hear your Father today as he says to you “I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places.”