This morning, I checked the GPS collars on our guardian dogs before heading out into the pasture to feed them and check the cattle.
The GPS showed me exactly where they were.
Or at least… where they had been.
To conserve battery, the collars only update every five to ten minutes. So I headed across the pasture toward the last reported location.
When I got there, there were no dogs.
No cows.
Just an empty pasture.
For a moment, I was standing exactly where the GPS told me to go—but what I was looking for wasn’t there anymore.
They had moved.
I checked again, changed direction, and headed toward the other side of the pasture.
And there they were.
The dogs got fed. The cattle were healthy. Everything was exactly as it should be.
I just needed to be redirected.
Sometimes God Does the Same Thing
I wonder how often we do this in life.
We head toward where God led us yesterday and assume that’s where He wants us today.
Maybe it was a job.
A relationship.
A ministry.
A business plan.
A dream.
Or simply the way we thought our life was supposed to unfold.
There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with the original direction. It may have been exactly where we were supposed to go at the time.
But things moved.
And sometimes God says,
“Not that way anymore. Come this way.”
Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Redirection doesn’t always mean we made a mistake.
Sometimes it simply means God has more current information than we do.
We see the last update.
He sees the whole pasture.
When I reached that empty spot this morning, I could have stood there frustrated because the dogs weren’t where I expected them to be.
Instead, I checked again and changed direction.
Maybe there’s something in that for us.
When life doesn’t look like we expected, perhaps the question isn’t always:
“Where did I go wrong?”
Maybe sometimes the better question is:
“God, where are You directing me now?”
The destination hadn’t disappeared.
The dogs weren’t lost.
The cattle weren’t in trouble.
I simply needed to adjust my direction.
And sometimes, that’s exactly what faith requires.
Trust the Shepherd. Check your direction. And don’t be afraid to change course when He leads you somewhere new.