Wise Crossroads

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Psalm 119:104–105 (KJV): "Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

What it is speaking to me:

When I first moved to St. Louis, I would drive around a lot. This was in a time that predated smartphones and the invention of Google Maps. You got directions one of two ways. The tech-savvy would use a now-outmoded website called MapQuest that would give you road-by-road directions, which you would print out and bring with you in your car. Everyone else used the method they had used for time immemorial: verbal directions. They would go something like this: "Take a left on [street name] off exit 12 on HWY 11, then a right on [street name]. About a mile and a half down, you will see the house with the yellow shutters. Turn right down that side street, and we live in the fourth house on the left with the red front door." That was it.

So it seemed to me that the best way to familiarize myself with the city was to drive around, go any direction, make turns, follow roads, and see where they took me, so I would slowly map the city and county in my memory.

I tell you all this to explain the one time I got well and truly lost. I was deep into south county, probably really into Jefferson County, where the roads aren't built with any obvious plan. I had no idea where I was, and hadn't for a good twenty minutes, when I came to the end of the road and had to turn left or right.

When you come to a crossroads, you have to make a decision. In my case, it was whether to turn left or right. But many crossroads in life carry much higher stakes than mine did. What do you do at those crossroads? Do you go with your gut? Take a guess? Or apply wisdom?

In my case, I applied earthly wisdom: I checked my cardinal directions, knew the general direction I wanted to head, and turned right, hoping the road would ultimately head that way (a chancy bet in Jefferson County). It did, and I got un-lost.

But earthly wisdom can only go so far, and it remains earthly, thus not as trustworthy as godly wisdom. Godly wisdom is a "light" into a dark crossroads. Not knowing which way to go, which action to take, or which words to say can feel dark, a little scary, and in its own way, can dim your future as you face it. When we apply wisdom from above, it shines light into that darkness and points us the right way. It gives us the right action, the right words, the right turn to make.

Though this analogy falls woefully short, it is the spiritual Google Maps for the crossroads in our lives. And just like that app, it is available to all of us. We simply have to ask.

What is it saying to you?

Where are you going?

What are you facing?

What crossroads have you encountered recently?

How do you approach those crossroads?

What are we going to do about it?

Before a crucial decision today, deliberately seek wisdom from God and His Word instead of relying solely on impulse or peer advice.