How many times have you followed directions on a navigation app and missed a turn? Many times, for me. The eye in the sky can’t always see what’s happening on the ground, nor predict the unpredictable nature of the human driver.  So, when we get off track, it gets right to work by rerouting.

It occurred to me that God is the Original Master Navigator and restorer of our lives. A navigation app has zero power to force us to follow a precisely laid-out path.  It offers the most efficient route, and alerts us to road closures or dangers ahead. We can use or reject that information and make our own choices because we are free to do so. The first words God said to Adam were:

“You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat… ” Gen 1:16    

After Eve was created, we can be sure that Adam shared this vital information with her, because when tempted by Satan, she told him as much.

“The woman answered the snake: We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: You may not eat it…” Gen 3:2-3

We were created free to love and obey God or, conversely, to reject Him and the commandments given for our flourishing. Our Heavenly Father respects the freedom He has given us. Yet His infinite love longs for a relationship with each one of His children.

God pursues you. He thirsts for our love in return. The Sacred Heart of Jesus said to St. Margaret Mary Alocque:

“Behold this Heart, which has loved so much but has received nothing but coldness, indifference, and ingratitude in return.”

Sacred Heart of Jesus

So what is the Master Re-router to do but offer alternate course corrections, suggestions we can take or refuse. God gently, and not so gently, has rerouted my course, and I cannot imagine what my life would have been had I continued to ignore Him.

Each line of our stories is written by our choices. God invites us to accompany Him on a journey that impacts the good of our souls and as a bonus, the lives of others—many of whom we will never know.

Unlike a satellite that assists our navigation apps— God sees all and knows all—past, present, and future. God knows how each U-turn and reroute, fits together in His grand design, and each moment becomes an opportunity to love.

We don’t know what the next five minutes brings. I’ve had life-changing moments in less time than that, moments where my life could have been over, and I would have been left with an eternity of regrets and “wish I would haves.”

By His grace, I’m still here.

We each have a set amount of time, and then it’s over. So, what needs to change now? What decisions need to be rerouted or prioritized?

Later is a gift we may never open.

I can’t forget the couple whom I met in December, right before Christmas. They had just moved to Arizona to start a new life and an unexpected tragedy occured. They were busy unpacking, and their toddler, their only child, drowned in their pool. It’s hard to get her father’s desperate cries out of my head:

“She’s gone! We didn’t get her baptized. We didn’t make time,
she’s gone, and now it’s too late.”

We have today. God is patient and will continue to offer course corrections we can choose to follow. His directions lead to eternal bliss and happiness with Him.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6)

It pretty much comes down to His way, or the highway that can lead to hell. There are no other options.

At the end of our journey we are given what we have chosen, God or no God.
And no God, is hell.

Take advantage of now and the rerouting God offers in love. It leads to an incredible eternal adventure.