Finding the Right Direction in A Confusing World

I pulled into the entrance of the campground and looked for the office. My cousin had directed me to obtain a pass so I could visit her new retirement abode—a camper at KOA Campground at the beach. The office lady behind the desk instructed me to follow her neatly drawn markings on the map to the campsite. Armed with my pass and the handy map, I eagerly headed for my destination. Except the landmarks on the map were nowhere to be found. No pond. No bridge. I couldn’t figure out how what I was seeing matched up to the map at all. I suddenly realized I was heading the wrong way on a one-way road! So I retraced my route to the entrance and started over. This time, however, I turned the map horizontally, and everything began to make sense. The office lady’s map was perfect, and her directions were clear. But I was not properly oriented to the map.

Sometimes we come to God and we think as long as we have the pass, we’re good to go, but we have failed to orient ourselves correctly to the Word of God. And every turn we make is taking us in the wrong direction. So we fuss and complain because we aren’t getting where we want to go. The problem is not with the map. When we come to Christ, we have to reorient our lives and align our worldview to God’s Word.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2, NIV).

When I oriented myself to the map, it changed my direction. I realized what I thought was true was not. I had to go a completely different direction to get on the right path. When we orient ourselves to God and His truth, we will have a right understanding of God, we will be more likely to walk in His will, and we will make more impact for the Kingdom. In order to do this, we must allow God’s Word to determine our truth—not the prevailing voices of our culture.

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130).

In the early 1500s, the mathematician and astronomer Copernicus shared his heliocentric view of the universe to a skeptical audience. Everyone believed that all the heavenly bodies orbit the earth. Copernicus believed all the planets revolve around the sun. It wasn’t a popular belief, but as we all know, it was right. When we stand on God’s truth according to the Scriptures, we won’t always hold the popular view, but we can rest assured it’s the right one. Jesus Himself prayed, “Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

In a climate in which truth is considered to be relative, basing our lives on the truth of God’s Word is a counter-cultural choice. But if we believe God’s Word to be true, it should impact every area of our lives—our home and family; education and career; church and ministry; even our friendships and hobbies. Our lives should revolve around the Son rather than ourselves. 

How do we know if we have rightly oriented ourselves to God’s Word? Here are a few questions we may consider.

• Do we live by the granny gospel—believing what we’ve always heard rather than searching out truth for ourselves?
• Do we seek verses to prove our point, rather than studying God’s Word within its context?
• Do we set aside time to learn and grow in the Word, rather than assuming we already know what we need to know?
• Are we willing to change our lives to align with God’s principles, rather than changing what we believe to suit our lifestyles?

These are hard questions for us to consider, but in a world in which information is so readily available yet so easily adjustable, we must be discerning to know what is right and true. Time in God’s Word will renew our minds and train us to view all things from God’s truth, which never changes.