The Advantages of Getting Lost

Ok,no need to be smart here..as many of you may already know, I seem to have mysteriously acquired the reputation of somebody who has the tendency to have a poor sense of direction on the road and who "occasionally" gets lost or experiences extended de-tours..now substitute the "somebody" with "everyone who knows me for more than five minutes" and the "occasionally" with "all the time even with a flippin' map" and you will get a more accurate picture of what is going on here: I am a desperate case in need of a sat nav (for dummies)!Doh! However, despite the enormous frustration I sometimes feel when I am pulled over on the side of the motorway crying my little eyes out in desperation, I have always descovered that, if you are in the right frame of mind, "getting lost" can open up your life to a world of incredible discoveries and adventures which are the greatest, because you never expected them in the first place! It is the fine line between constantly wanting to be in rigorous control of your existence and living carelessly in the knowledge and confidence of God's sovreignty..just a thought.. It is like when I was in Takamatsu City two years ago and I wondered off on my own..eventually got lost and had to ask directions to people..in Japanese! I saw places, met people, cherished smiles and frowns I would have otherwise never encountered.Or I think back at today, travelling back from Essex to Manchester on a rainy M1..neglected to turn off to get onto the M6 and ended up driving to Sheffield via Sherwood forest and the Snakepath through half of Yorkshire which probably delayed me loads, but what I saw was better than a church service: the dales, the lush valleys and the trees turning brown and amber and orange and red; the colours of the sky merging into the horizon; the sound of birds singing..man:what a vision of God's creative extravaganza! Simply wonderful.