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In The Office Season 4’s “Dunder Mifflin Infinity,” Michael Scott grabs a rental car to deliver client gift baskets. As he drives, he blindly and stubbornly obeys his GPS’s command for a right turn…straight into a lake, even while his passenger Dwight tries to plead with him not to do it. 

The two escape the car and make their way to shore. Michael asks Dwight if he’s okay because “that’s what’s important.” Dwight affirms he’s fine and replies, “Did you get the rental insurance, because that is what’s important too in a time like this.”

Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. This is episode 687, “I’ve Got This.” I’m Darrell Darnell, I once got so lost in Dallas that even a police officer couldn’t tell me how to get back on track, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living.

I have visited Dallas, Texas more than any other city in the world. I’ve lived in Oklahoma nearly my entire life, and Dallas Fort Worth is the closest major metropolis, so it makes sense that I’ve traveled there so often. I first remember visiting Dallas as a teen to go to Six Flags over Texas, and since then I’ve traveled there many times for both business and pleasure.

It’s about a three hour drive from my front door to the north end of Dallas, and I can get anywhere in the Dallas area in about four hours. That means anytime I go to Dallas, I drive. Which also means outside of Oklahoma City, I’ve spent more time driving in Dallas than any other city on earth.

Getting to Dallas is easy. For me, I simply need to go about half a mile to the nearest north/south street and head south. That street merges with Interstate 235 South, and that eventually merges with I-35 South, which takes me straight to the Dallas metro. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

But navigating Dallas? That’s a totally different situation.

As I said, I’ve been going there since I was a teen. I was probably 19 the first time I drove down there myself. In those days we needed a paper map to navigate the city. I know some of you old timers remember those. From there we progressed to MapQuest. We could go to the MapQuest website and map our exact route. Then we could print off turn-by-turn directions. It was amazing! Of course, GPS changed everything, and having GPS in our phones made paper maps completely obsolete.

In those early days, making a wrong turn was a big deal. There was no friendly British lady automatically recalculating my route and getting me back on course. A wrong turn meant I had to pull over, figure out where I was, look at the paper map to find a new route, or it meant stopping and asking a local for directions.

I’m not sure how many times I’ve visited Dallas in total, but I can tell you that it has been in a never ending cycle of road construction for as long as I can remember. And while it’s frustrating as a driver, it’s totally understandable. The city has been growing rapidly and constantly. It’s nearly doubled in size since I first started visiting there.

Because it’s always under construction, the roads are always changing. So I am incredibly grateful for this age where I can punch an address into my phone and it gives me turn-by-turn instructions that update in real time based on road construction, accidents, slowdowns, or any other traffic-related issues. And never, not one single time, has my GPS led me to believe I should drive into a lake.

But make no mistake, I do not enjoy driving in Dallas. In fact, I very much dislike it. After a few days of it, I’m ready to be back in my hometown where the traffic is less hectic and I know all the routes like the back of my hand.

And even getting out of Dallas isn’t always easy. There are so many highways and alternate routes that it’s impossible for me to know which one is best. And that, of course, is where my GPS app shines. I’ll punch in my destination and let it lead the way. But once I find myself on I-35 North, a big sigh of relief washes over me. I know I-35 North. I can stay on that and end up back in my hometown.

Except that’s not always the case.

A few years ago Kari and I were visiting Dallas for fun. When it came time to go home, I turned off the GPS once I got to I-35 North. A few miles later we came to one of those mega, spaghetti-like interchanges. None of the signs mentioned which lane was I-35 North. So I stayed in the lane I was in.

But about 20 minutes later it was clear I was heading the wrong way.

I turned the GPS back on and sure enough, I needed to make a U-turn.

And I’ve gotten myself in trouble heading into Dallas too. As I mentioned earlier, getting to Dallas from my house is easy peasy lemon squeezy. So I don’t typically turn on my GPS until I get close to Denton where I-35 South splits into I-35 East toward Dallas or I-35 West toward Fort Worth.

During one particular visit, as I neared the Red River which separates the Sooner State from the Lone Star State, traffic came to a halt. I mean it came to a total stop. I turned on the GPS and saw that there was road construction ahead. The route I expected to take about 15 minutes to navigate was going to take about 90 minutes to navigate. There was an alternate route I could take to bypass the construction, but I’d just passed by my last chance to exit and take the bypass.

I was stuck.

Here’s what I learned.

I thought I had it all figured out. I’d driven that route dozens of times. I knew exactly where I was going. I didn’t need any help. So I turned off the GPS and relied on my own knowledge and experience.

And that’s exactly when things went sideways.

Sometimes I turned it off too early and ended up heading the wrong direction. Other times I turned it on too late and missed my opportunity to avoid trouble altogether. In both cases, the problem was the same. I thought I knew better. I thought I could handle it on my own.

And isn’t that exactly what we do with God?

We think we’ve got it figured out. We’ve been down this road before. We know what we’re doing. So we close the Bible. We skip church. We let our prayer life fade to nothing. We stop seeking counsel from other believers. We essentially turn off our connection to God and rely on our own wisdom and experience to get us where we’re going.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “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 straight your paths.” Notice it doesn’t say “acknowledge him when you’re lost” or “acknowledge him when things get hard.” It says in ALL your ways. That means the easy parts too. That means the roads we think we know by heart.

Life is constantly changing, just like Dallas is constantly under construction. The routes we thought we knew shift beneath our feet. New challenges appear. Unexpected obstacles block our path. And if we’re not constantly connected to God, constantly letting Him guide us, we’re going to end up heading the wrong direction or stuck in traffic with no way out.

Psalm 32:8 reminds us, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” God promises to guide us. Not just when we’re in crisis mode, but all the time. He’s watching over us. He sees the construction ahead. He knows which lane we need to be in. He can see the whole route from beginning to end.

But we have to keep the GPS on. We have to stay connected.

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” God’s Word lights up the road ahead. But if we’ve closed the Bible and stuck it on a shelf, we’re driving in the dark. We might think we know where we’re going, but without that light, we’re bound to miss something important.

James 1:5 tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” God doesn’t hoard His wisdom. He doesn’t make us beg for it. He gives it generously. But we have to ask. We have to turn on the GPS. We have to open the line of communication.

Life is best, fullest, and smoothest when we are in constant relationship with God. When we’re spending time around other believers who can speak truth into our lives. When we’re in the Bible regularly, letting God’s Word shape our thoughts and decisions. When we’re in prayer, talking to God about everything, not just the emergencies.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Because I’ve thought it too.

You’re thinking about all the times you’ve turned off the GPS. All the times you’ve relied on yourself and ended up lost or stuck. And you feel guilty. You know you should turn back to God, but there’s this nagging voice that says, “You only reach out to Him when you’re in trouble. You ignore Him when things are going well. What kind of relationship is that?”

And that guilt keeps you from reaching out at all.

But here’s what you need to know. God is full of grace, mercy, and love. Yes, He wants us to walk with Him at all times. But He also cares for us deeply and welcomes us to call on Him in times of trouble. He doesn’t sit there with His arms crossed, waiting for us to grovel. He’s ready to help.

Psalm 18:6 says, “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.” God hears us when we cry out. Even when we’ve been ignoring Him. Even when we only turned the GPS back on because we realized we were heading the wrong way.

Psalm 34:17 tells us, “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” He delivers us. Not because we’ve earned it. Not because we’ve maintained a perfect connection. But because He loves us and He’s faithful.

First Peter 5:7 invites us to cast “all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” He cares for you. Not just when you’re doing everything right. Not just when you’ve been faithful in prayer and Bible reading. He cares for you always. And He wants you to bring your anxieties to Him.

Hebrews 4:16 encourages us, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” With confidence. Not with shame. Not with groveling apologies. With confidence. Because God’s throne is a throne of grace.

And Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Don’t be anxious about anything. That includes the guilt you feel for not staying connected. That includes the shame of only reaching out when you’re in trouble. Bring it all to God in prayer. Let your requests be made known. And His peace will guard your heart and mind.

So yes, the goal is to keep the GPS on all the time. To stay connected to God through His Word, through prayer, through fellowship with other believers. To let Him guide every turn, every decision, every moment of the journey.

But if you’ve turned it off? If you’ve been relying on yourself and now you’re lost or stuck? Turn it back on. Right now. God is ready to recalculate your route. He’s ready to guide you home. He’s not sitting there angry that you turned Him off. He’s sitting there waiting to help you, full of grace and ready to lead.

God loves you. He cares for you. And today is the day to turn to Him. Not because you have to. Not because you’ve finally earned the right. But because He’s been waiting for you, ready to guide you every mile of the way.

I’m Darrell Darnell, and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.

I want you to be a part of the next Monday Mailbag coming up in 4 weeks on March 30th! Monday Mailbag is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU.  It can be a message as short as 30 seconds or several minutes long.  It really doesn’t matter just as long as it’s something that will benefit others.  You can send in questions or responses to my SILY episodes, and I’ll respond to them via Monday Mailbag episodes. You can participate in Monday Mailbags by visiting the Golden Spiral Media listener feedback page.