It is fascinating to study the migration of birds. Take, for example, the Pacific Golden Plover. They are hatched in northlands of Alaska and Siberia. Before the young ones are old enough to fly great distances, the old birds desert them and fly far away to the Hawaiian Islands. The young birds are left behind to grow strong enough to follow their parents.
When the young birds that are left behind are fully mature they rise into the sky and set their course out over the Pacific Ocean. They have never made the journey before, but they must cross two thousand miles of ocean on their way to their destination. During their trip they do not have even one opportunity for food or rest, and they frequently encounter high winds and storms. Yet they fly straight to those tiny specks in the Pacific known as the Hawaiian Islands.
How do you explain the flight of these birds? Surely they are equipped with what we today call a Global Positioning System (GPS). What is fascinating to me about this is that God has also made the same kind or provision for those who serve Him. When our lives are in harmony with His will, even though we cannot see the way ahead, we have an instinctive sense of the right direction and, with courage and confidence, we move steadily ahead through life without fear. We know that, even through life’s storms and uncertainties, we shall arrive at the destination God has provided for us.
The Bible says that this is the assurance every believer can possess: “In all your ways acknowledge him (God) and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6 NIV). This relieves us of the burden of the responsibility of tomorrow. We have all made mistakes in our yesterdays, and we can both be forgiven of them and learn from them. But when we turn our face toward the dim unknown tomorrow, God has promised to give the level of guidance that we need. If we follow His will, God says to us, “I will accept responsibility for whatever happens.”
After Jesus on the cross said, “It is finished,” He then said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46 NIV). His statement was an expression of total faith. He had done His best. He had given His all. He had fulfilled the mission for which He came into the world. Now He was willing to leave the results in God’s hands.
Because Christians have a continuing faith relationship with God, we can say with the hymn writer, “Keep thou my feet: I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step is enough for me.” God does not usually make known His will for years ahead. Instead, He shows us one step at a time, and as we take that step, it will lead us in the direction He would have us go.
When you leave where you are in the middle of the darkest night and head for a destination a hundred miles or more away, the headlights on your automobile will only reveal what is directly in front of you. They will not shine all the way to your destination. But if you keep following what your headlights reveal, you will reach your destination. In this way God reveals our path one day at a time.
To be in the center of God’s will, and to trust Him implicitly, does not mean that we will be immune to the kind of tragedies and conflicts that often happen in life. It simply means that God’s guidance can be trusted as we face them, and that we need not fear. Also, God’s will for us is not limited to our time on earth. He plans in terms of eternity. He has promised that those who trust Him will reach beyond earth into eternity.
Jesus said to His disciples, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may always be where I am” (John 14:2-3 NIV).
Just as the Pacific Golden Plover flies to a destination where they have never been, every person who accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord has a destination. We have never been there before, but it is our Savior’s promise. It is the EPS (Eternity Positioning System) that God installs in every believer’s heart. At a time of God’s own choosing it will guide us to our prepared destination.
The Paper Pulpit 
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