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Get a map!
Before our trip I used mapquest.com to print out a map and directions. As a programmer I know the concepts of AI (artificial intelligence) that could be used to generate such maps. They usually do pretty good but in this one there seems to be some personality included in the results.
On our trip map one of the first things we were supposed to do was go to the interstate cross under the bridge make a U-turn cross back under the bridge and then make a left onto the ramp. I'm not sure what kind of logic generated that instruction. I suspect that this was some kind of programmer's practical joke. Instead we just took a right onto the ramp and the interstate.
When we got there we had another instruction to take a country road that rambling around before connecting with another country road. In real life we could have taken the highway a lot closer. That's what the locals do.
Once when we were there we went to make a trip and I took a familiar highway. I knew the highway number and I thought we would get there eventually. Instead it took us 90 degrees out of the way and we were going the wrong way. I ended up getting out a map.
There are some who will blindly follow a AI generated map to their destination or a GPS system that directs their every turn. To me those things are only aids. It is up to me to check the map and know where I am going. The lesson to this of course is get a map when you can.
Following a step by step guide however is something you do need to do with life. We don't get a life map. Instead we need to make decisions and follow instructions every step of the way. Each step we make determines what the next step will be. For the Christian that is what the Bible (Word) is. It is said to be a light to our path and a lamp for our feet. The crucial part is knowing that the one that does the guiding is supremely intelligent and caring. If we make a U-turn there is a purpose. Often that is necessary because we didn't follow an instruction and ended up going the wrong way. The sooner you make that U-turn the quicker you'll get to that destination in your life.