From Living It Daily

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I was driving to my oldest daughter’s home, about two and a half hours from where I live. I’d been there numerous times, but on this particular trip, I decided to see how my phone’s GPS would guide me when I got out of town. I punched in the address, told it to start from where we were, touched the start button, and we were on our way.

Let me clarify a little bit. I knew the way because I had driven there many times, often enough to know the best and fastest way to arrive in the time it would normally take. I only did this because the trip can be somewhat repetitive and maybe just a bit boring. For the most part, it’s pretty straightforward and only changes the road route number twice, though it does depart from that number and then return to it later.

As for the directions the GPS gave, they were much as I thought they would be, and it did tell me to turn at the places I would have turned anyway. Well, that is, until I got to a small town about an hour from the final destination. I had been this way before and absolutely knew this small town like the back of my hand, including exactly where to make the two turns to get back to the original route number for the final leg of the journey.

Suddenly, I heard the GPS click in, say I had made a wrong turn, and it told me to safely make a U-turn and go back to continue my journey to my destination. Since I knew the way, I just ignored the advice and continued on my chosen route. It is a quiet little town with several traffic lights and a speed limit of 35 mph.

As I approached what I knew to be one of the last three traffic signals, the GPS unexpectedly kicked on again, telling me to turn right. Once again, I ignored the advice and proceeded to where I knew to turn. The GPS wouldn’t let me rest after that. At every intersection for every block, it kept telling me to turn right and proceed along its chosen route, which was different from the one I wanted.

Okay, I have to be honest here. The GPS was not mistaken; it was just evaluating and giving a different route to the same location. Recalculating, if you will. In both cases, because I knew the route and the reason I chose it, I could ignore the advice of the GPS. In both cases, the routes it showed me would take me to the same location but add time and mileage to the trip. Actually, the GPS routes would have added 30 to 40 minutes to my trip. The route I researched and chose was more direct and much closer overall to my daughter’s home.

Here’s what I keep coming back to. I believe we all have something inside us that tries to guide us and keep us on track when we make a wrong turn in our lives.

So, what am I saying here?

There are times when we travel, and the GPS is very helpful because we have no idea how to get to our desired destination. It’s at those times that we should listen to the GPS directions. I understand that sometimes the GPS may take us a long and indirect route, but the destination will be reached, much like it trying to tell me how to get to my daughter’s home. There are actually three ways of getting there. Two take longer, one is more direct.

In our lives, the same can be true. We may think we know the way to where we want to go or are going. At other times, we may not have any idea of how to reach our hope or dream. We start out on our journey, hoping we are doing the right things and making the right decisions, but there is a nagging feeling that seems to haunt us, making us uncomfortable and questioning whether we are headed in the right direction. That nagging feeling could be our personal GPS. Sometimes that nagging is asking, “What if?” “What if” there is another way to the destination you desire? “What if” there is a shorter route, or “what if” you should take a longer route to the same destination? “What if” this is something you shouldn’t pursue? “What if” you have made a wrong turn? Here is the course correction.

In closing, I would like to offer something from my first book, Living Life Notes: Insights From Traveling The Highway of Life, in the chapter titled “Fool’s Gold.” It says,

“All that glitters isn’t gold… not every idea is worth pursuing, and not every avenue is worth traveling down. There is a loving Heavenly Father who has nuggets of gold He wants to instill in us, and there are riches beyond imagination that are available. The problem is, we often chase after fool’s gold instead of the ‘pure gold’ He has for us.”

Skipping to the last paragraph:

“In the end, what matters most is knowing that we did everything we could with what He gave us, and that we didn’t waste our allotment of time pursuing riches that could not be found…”

Hey, this is Russ and I’m still Living It Daily… See ya next time…

All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer

© July .19, 2026 – all rights reserved

Rusty Norman, LivingItDaily.com

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