Straight or Zig-Zag?
Straight or zig-zag paths? How do you like to travel?
My passion to explore places I’ve never been before energizes me. I thank my dad for that. In fact, my dad introduced me to the roadmap. He taught me how to plan, double plan, and understand what’s going to be involved. He instructed me about what the lines meant, and he pointed out the meaning of all the line colors. The roadmap enticed me and invited me to connect the roads.
Little did I know that he wanted me to become his navigator. My mother, who came to the United States when she was six years old, didn’t get the chance to chart the ship to the New York Harbor. And therefore, she really didn’t care for charts and maps.
But I found it titillating. One day my dad handed me a roadmap and said, “Okay, pretend we’re going on vacation. You are going to be the pilot. You tell me which direction to go, from where we are now to the southern border of Michigan. Check out all the roads and get us there.
A week went by, when he said, “Get packed. We’re on vacation to Michigan!”
What a surprise! So, at the age of sixteen, my dad gave me the map I’d been working on and told me to sit in the passenger seat. My mom, sister and grandmother sat in the back!
I opened the map and saw where we were—Akron. I had studied the map and found many ways to get into Michigan. After scanning each route, I noted that if we took the shortest path, the drive would be about 200 miles. And because Ohio’s speed limit was 60 mph, the drive would about three to four hours.
But that would be boring. I wanted to get off the highways (at times) to see farmlands and small towns. The zig-zag path I had chosen didn’t take in the time it would take to make necessary stops ever once in a while. So, by the time we graced Michigan with our presence, six hours had ticked by. And since our destiny was West Michigan—another three hours of driving.
Fortunately, Dad had already mapped out his directions to get from the south border to the west, where our cottage waited for us. Believe me, it was a calmer, faster, from-here-to-there journey. But once the journey came to an end, Dad smirked and said to all of us, “Wow! I think we’ve seen every farm, dirt road, and all the tiny towns Ohio has. It’s like we were spies slinking into Michigan!”
Everyone, including my mother, laughed and breathed sighs of relief that it was over.
* * *
I believe God gave me the urge to zig-zag our way to Michigan so my eyes would see more of his creation. He amplified my curiosity and awe with all his creations. No matter where I go—even if it’s someplace where I’ve been to a hundred times or somewhere that doesn’t appeal to me—I always find something new and interesting.
Solomon once wrote:
Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you makes. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go (Proverbs 3:5-6 TPT).
What about You?
Do you like zig-zagging or playing it straight?
Do you enjoy discovering or do you feel joyful being in places for which you already know?
If God would ask you to go to a place you never saw, would you:
1. Get directions as to how to get there, and get packing.
2. Pray and ask others to pray with or for you.
3. Check the internet and then ask your social media friends.
3. Ask God to give you a “sign” that will definitely prove it was him.
4. If that sign happened, ask God for another.
5. Anxiety begins to blossom, and you tell God you just can’t do it.
6. Just ignore it because you think God wouldn’t send you anywhere like that.
7. Maybe all or parts of the above.