April 14, 2006

You Are Here

Read Psalm 16:8-11

After a conversation with Steve Lorenz (who gets the credit for the title of this devotion), I imagined myself standing at the directory of my life (like a mall directory) looking for that dot on the map that reads “You Are Here.”

Even if I know where I want to go, I have to find out where I am first. Where I am may turn out to be a disappointment. I could discover that I am much farther away from my destination than I’d hoped – or not. I also may discover that the path I took to the “You Are Here” spot was a poor choice – maybe I missed something I really wanted to do along the way, or maybe I took too many wrong turns. It could be that somebody else’s needs or actions led me a different way. I might have discovered many amazing things along the way. No matter what my path was, or whether the decisions involved were good or bad – where am I now?

I am here.
The map tells me so.
How do I get where I want to go?
From here.

I imagine Jesus standing at a directory in the Garden of Gethsemane and finding the “You Are Here” spot. I imagine seeing his shoulders sag and his head slump. His destination couldn’t have looked very appealing. His path up to that point though certainly had been filled with amazing things. He was pretty close to his destination, but where was he then?
He was there.
The good news was he knew that he wasn’t the only one at that point on the directory. I imagine Jesus looking at that spot on the directory again and reading “You Are Here” and I am with you. We can read the same thing.

Prayer for the day: Dear God, help us to not dwell on wrong turns along life’s path. Thank you for being with us where we are. Amen.

Thought for the day: No matter where you go, there you are.

Jacki Rumpp