Eleven men from my church recently went to a men’s retreat in Eureka Springs, AR. I was riding in the front seat of a car and we were following someone else who had been to the retreat center before. It was very hard to keep track of where we were and where we were going. I told the driver of our car that I hoped he wasn’t counting on me to get us out of there the next day. I was turned around and lost as I could be.
The driver told me, “No problem. I’ll just punch in home on the navigation system and we’ll be fine.” He then turned it on to show me how it works. The screen was white. Now, I don’t have a vehicle with a navigation system in it, but I’ve seen how they work and I know that they are supposed to show you what road you are traveling on. The white screen wasn’t right. We realized that we were so far in the boonies that we were “off the map.” I took a picture of it with my iphone, but by the time I took the picture you could see a portion of highway 62 in the corner, but we still had no idea of where we were at.
We had a good laugh about the fact that we didn’t know where we were at and that we didn’t know how to get back out of there. Then I said, “wait a minute. I don’t know why we are laughing so hard, because we really don’t know how to get out of here.” Obviously we made it, because the next day, we followed someone else back out to the main highway.
Have you ever felt like your life was “off the map?” Have you ever felt like you were out of control? Lost? You didn’t know which way to turn? I dare say most of us have felt that way at one time or another. Some of you may feel that way right now.
I actually felt that way when I went to the retreat. You see, I had some serious questions that I needed God’s help with. I was at a cross road with some business decisions and employment decisions.
Thankfully, God answered my prayers. I came home with a real sense of peace and calm that was not from my own self. I had actually asked the men to pray for me that God would give me His peace and He did! When I got home, I told my wife some of the things that God revealed to me and she commented that I really had a sense of peace and calm about me.
Yes, I still have problems and I continually work on turning my fear and anxieties over to God. He didn’t just magically make my problems disappear. I cast my cares upon my Master, Jesus Christ. I’m still dealing with the issues, but I am at peace with them because I know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is carrying my burdens. The peace of God resides within me. I know I will make it through tough times because God is with me. I have peace knowing that I have a real, personal relationship with God, and no one or nothing can ever take that away from me. (Read Romans 8:35-39).
I have confidence in Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Do you have this peace of God within you? Have you cast all your burdens on your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Do you need to go “off the map” and spend some quality time with God?