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NOT LOST, JUST DIRECTIONALLY CHALLENGED
Copyright 2001by Debbie Porter

"I know how to get there!"

Kylie had our attention, although tinged with skeptical amusement. It had been three years since we'd seen the two blocks of land at the top of the Mountain, and it seemed fairly unlikely that our 16-year-old would be able to act as navigator after all this time.

"Really?" I asked and waited to hear what she had to say.

"Yes," she began, with complete confidence. "You just go up a mountain, then turn a corner."

I couldn't help laughing because that was about as much as I could remember as well. Unfortunately it left a couple of huge gaps in the mental road map. There was the teensy detail of how to get to the mountain in the first place, and then the very unimportant matter of what to do after turning that corner.

One of the highlights of our vacation to Queensland was the prospect of seeing my family again. My Dad, Stepmother and two sisters had been living in their new home for 18 months, and my Sister, Diane, and her family had moved into their new house just last year. I couldn't wait to see what time and a lot of hard work had done to transform those once vacant, windswept blocks of land. But to do that, we were going to need a little clearer direction than what was offered by Kylie.

Thankfully, Diane came to the rescue and offered to meet us at a take away food shop near the base of the mountain. From there, she'd act as our guide. All we had to do was find our way to that shop.

Not a problem! We knew that part of the Gold Coast very well, as it was quite close to where my Dad had lived before. We even knew where that particular chicken shop was, or so we thought.

Even though Steve checked the tourist maps before we left our apartment, we still managed to take several wrong turns. Things had changed over the last few years and what had once seemed very familiar, now left us struggling to find our way.

When we finally did arrive in the right area, we discovered that we weren't quite so sure where we were going after all. In fact, we weren't even sure that we were on the right side of the freeway. All we could do was keep going in the general direction we thought it was and pray that we'd somehow stumble across it in our wanderings, and thankfully, that's exactly what happened!

Seeing the familiar "Red Rooster" sign as we came around the bend was enough to bring a sigh of relief from all of us. There in the car park were my dear Sister and Niece, patiently waiting for their not so long lost relatives to arrive.

From that point on the trip was easy. With Diane leading the way, the only thing we had to do was follow close behind and enjoy the scenery. Although at times the road became very steep, we knew that we were heading in the right direction and at the end of our journey we'd be exactly where we were meant to be.

What a wonderful time we had with everyone once we arrived at the top of the mountain! Not only was it a happy reunion, but it was also my Niece's 14th birthday, which made it a double celebration.

After several hours of laughter and chat, it was time to make our way back down to the coast. This time, armed with a map and directions, as well as another guided tour to the turn-off, we were more than confident that we wouldn't get lost.

Strange how dark it gets at night on steep, winding roads when there isn't much lighting.

We'd made the trip up the mountain in the bright afternoon sunshine, but the sun was long gone and it was now a trip in the pitch black of night.

With each bend in the road a spectacular panorama of the coast appeared before our eyes. A black velvet display of sparkling diamond lights in the distance.

"Oh will you look at that view!" My exclamation of delight just couldn't be contained. But then I realized what I'd said and quickly followed it with, "No! No! Don't look Steve! Just watch the road!"

Even with the map and directions, the trip down the mountain didn't seem quite as easy as the trip up. The darkness had changed everything. But then I saw something that put my mind at rest.

Shining like fluorescent lights in the night, a seemingly endless stream of reflectors down the center of the road caught the beam from our headlamps and suddenly our way home was perfectly clear.

It's quite likely that we would have eventually made it to the right place that afternoon, even without my sister leading the way. The same is probably true about the trip back home. No doubt we would have found our way down the mountain without the map, directions and even the glowing reflectors. But how much harder it would have been! We'd had a taste of stumbling along unfamiliar roads and places earlier that afternoon, and even though we eventually did reach our destination, the journey had been uncertain and so much more difficult than it needed to be.

We can stumble through life as Christians too. We'll still probably end up at the same destination, but why make things harder than they need to be? Particularly when we have everything we need to point us in the right direction.

For one thing, we have a shining light illuminating the way for us to go. How beautiful and true is the Psalm that says:

God's Word blazes like a beacon before us, but unless we take hold of it and apply the truth to our lives, we'll be forever stumbling through the darkness. How foolish it would have been to attempt driving down the mountain that night if our headlamps weren't turned on! Not only would there have been no light shed on the way ahead, there'd also be no reflected light from the road. The same is true when we try to live for Jesus without ever reading the Bible and finding out what it means to follow Him.

Not only has God given us a light for our path, but He's also provided us with a Guide for the journey. Jesus told His disciples:

Every person who's received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, has also received the Holy Spirit. How awesome to know that we need never be lost, misplaced, or locationally challenged ever again. Provided we keep our hearts open and receptive to the Spirit's leading, we can be confident that our path will always be the best way home.

One other wonderful thing is that when we do finally make it to the mountain top and are rejoicing in sweet communion with our Father and family, we'll never have to go down into the valley ever again.