Great Plains Daily Devotional for 9/19/2020

Hebrews 11:38-39

of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised,

We are mountain vacation people. There are beach people, and big city visiting people, but we are firmly mountain people. Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton and Colorado Springs are places we love and either revisit or plan to revisit when we can. In those towns there are often souvenirs emblazoned with the quote from JRR Tolkien “Not all who wander are lost,” and every time I see one, I mentally add but I probably am so feel free to give me directions.

I was born with a faulty compass. It’s so bad it tries to trick me and convince me to trust it when history shows I shouldn’t. There are many a family story regarding me getting lost, turned around and even one about a map that blew away. Trust me when I say if I’m one of those who is wandering, I may in fact be lost.

I found 10 references to wandering in the NRSV version of the Bible. From Genesis where Abraham sends Hagar and her child into the wilderness to Hebrews talking about the prophets who were harassed, persecuted, and forced to wander for survival.

In our current climate wandering is something we are hoping to do again once the pandemic winds down and we return to “normal.” When that time comes you can bet, I’ll be using my GPS to find my way around, even in Topeka (I know, it’s embarrassing).

In our faith we can count on God being our true north, orienting ourselves to focus on God first. We may wander or stray but using our tools of prayer, the Bible, and other people as a compass we can find our way back. We may wander away from God, but we have a map to get back to him. Hold tight to your faith and don’t let the current struggles of today blow away that map.
 

Prayer for Reflection

Exodus 14:19-31
Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35