We traveled for vacation yesterday.  I have a new app for my iPhone and thought I would give it a try.  Along the way we wanted to stop to see our daughter.    I turned the app on and was ready to head directly south.  It told me to head west.   It took us a way that no other map program suggested but indicated that if we went this way we would get to our destination in amazing time.  So with that anticipation, I followed its directions. 
   As we traveled, and time passed slowly, I began to doubt this app.  This doesn't seem to make sense.  It felt as if we weren't getting there as quickly as it said.  If we took our "normal" route it would have brought us to the same point we just passed.  We were getting a little stir crazy and ready for the trip to be over.  And to our great joy we finally arrived.
   This morning I have been using other programs to evaluate what happened yesterday.  To be fair, the program indicated that the time was the "travel time."  It did not include our stops to eat, get gas, and stretch.  If I took those times off, it was right.  I used map quest to check mileage.  My new program was right.  The fastest and shortest route to our destination was the way it led us.  And as we traveled my new program warned me about upcoming traffic slow downs and problems.  So despite my feelings, the program was right all along.
   I see people take their first journeys of faith the same way.  They have a new "app" to use called the Bible.  They have been used to traveling a particular path to try to reach a destination and suddenly this new app says to go a different direction.  It feels weird.  And it seems that it is taking longer to get there but they forget that along the way there are needs to address.  And when they reach their destination they find the Bible was right all along. 
   Next time I take a trip, I will have a little more confidence in my new program.  It didn't fail me.  My initial perceptions of what it was telling me were wrong.  What it was saying was right, I just didn't understand it well because I was hearing it based on my former frame of reference and personal experience. 
   I pray that if you are on your initial journey of faith that you can also learn to trust the Bible and what the Holy Spirit is directing you to do, even if your experience and former frame of reference tell you that this can't be right.  You will find it is and it will give you confidence as you take the next leg of your trip.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6