My lovely wife returned from a luncheon engagement with an insight I was more than willing to borrow. “My GPS took me on a path that was completely counter-intuitive to me.” Joni reported. “I even wondered if I had entered the wrong destination. I learned later that there was a major slowdown on the normal route and this strange path got me there on time. The GPS could see things I could not and knew how to get me there. I began to think I do the same thing with God. I wonder about the path He has me on and if He knows how to get me to the place I want to be. But He sees things I cannot and I need to trust Him more.”

I love that metaphor. I think part of the answer is that we fail to recognize how big our God really is. I am going to borrow a bit from my book Waking Up Slowly that addressed that topic.

Psalm 139 is one of the most inspiring Psalms in Scripture. David made three observations about the greatness of God.

God knows everything about us.
God is everywhere we are.
God ordains everything about you.

If those statements are true about God then it should change how we go about our daily business.

The Psalmist writes that God knows my move and every thought. And I was concerned about the government snooping on me!

God, investigate my life;
    get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
    I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
    before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
    then up ahead and you’re there, too—
    your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
    I can’t take it all in!   (Psalm 139:1-6, The Message)

There are no secrets from God. There is no hiding from God. Our desire to keep those secrets and to hide from His presence results from our lack of understanding of His redemptive love for us. We think God will love us less when we sin. The uniqueness of grace for a follower of Christ is that God already knows everything about you and He loves you exactly the same on your best or worst day.

Don’t rush past that truth. Read it again.

God knows everything about you and He loves you exactly the same on both your best or worst day.

We are known by God, We are watched over by God. We are ordained by God. You are not an accident nor am I. You are here for a reason. Henri Nouwen frames it beautifully.

“We seldom realize fully that we are sent to fulfill God-given tasks. We act as if we were simply dropped down in creation and have to decide how to entertain ourselves until we die. But we were sent into the world by God, just as Jesus was. Once we start living our lives with that conviction, we will soon know what we were sent to do.”

Everyday has the potential to do something or learn something that will alter someone’s life and even eternity. What an amazing thought that God can use someone like me for His purpose. I find that a remarkable example of His grace. But I forget that. I often start the day feeling, to quote Rich Mullins, about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. That is a lie from the pit of Hell. I am known, cherished and ordained by God for His purpose. So are you. Every day matters and every moment matters.

A God this amazing that calls us by name can be trusted with a path that may seem counter-intuitive at times. I may not understand His ways but I can always trust them.