Do you feel like you can’t sense God’s direction in your life? It’s possible you can’t clearly hear His instructions because you’re already following the direction you received from somewhere else.
Once my wife and I were going to visit some friends in Georgia. We were on a newly constructed road and I wasn’t sure the GPS on my phone was right. I decided we’d also use the Garmin GPS we had in the car.
Do you know what happened? They gave us two completely different sets of directions. The result was that we had no idea where to go because it’s impossible to follow two separate paths at the same time. Do you have more than one spiritual GPS pulling you in different directions?
What are you replacing the direction Christ is trying to give you with?
Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NLT)
One way. One truth. One life.
Jesus is the only way, but we often refuse his direction or and resist submitting to His authority.
We sacrifice the plan and direction God has for our lives by letting other things rule over us. We take our direction from idols even as we pray for His guidance.
Here are five things you may be using to replace Christ’s direction in your life:
YOUR SUCCESS
Does your direction and security come from work and having money? Does your giving reflect a life rooted in Christ and His Kingdom, trusting in His provision or do you feel like you need to provide for yourself?
YOUR TIME 
That’s the first question. Do you call it your time or do you view it as time God has allotted you? You can easily take your direction from a calendar. That happens a lot in our culture. Is your life built on your own to-do list and calendar events? Does your service reflect a life built on Christ? Do you go to church early for worship—with a heart prepared for worship, or do you stroll in somewhere after the announcements? Is your time with Christ the priority in your life or do you give Him your left-over time?
That naturally leads us to the next distraction on our list.
YOUR ENTERTAINMENT
Does football, movies, television, your smartphone, or books take up a bigger place in your life than your relationship with Jesus? Is your worldview and direction shaped by the time you spend with Jesus or the time you spend with your favorite form of entertainment?
YOUR POLITICS 
Are you directed by your politics more than Jesus? Now, be careful. It’s easy to say, “My politics are informed by my faith.” But is that really true or is your faith an excuse to argue about politics like the Colossians argued about philosophy? Because I’ll be honest, I see political posts on Facebook every day by people who call themselves Christians that in no way reflect the person of Jesus Christ. Does your identity come from being a Republican, Democrat, or a citizen of God’s Kingdom? Your identity can’t be in more than one.
You can even go off course with one:
YOUR THEOLOGY
Some people can start worshipping knowledge about God over experiencing a life with God. It’s obviously okay to discuss theology, but has it become your identity? Has it become more important than looking like Christ? Here’s another way to evaluate yourself: Does your love for arguing about the church threaten unity within the church (Colossians 2:2)?
It’s not enough for us to know Christ died for our sins. We have to follow Him as we take our direction from Jesus rather than the world.
Spend a few moments asking God what you’re putting ahead of Him and His direction for your life.
What areas of your life do you sense God is asking you to examine?
Joshua J. Masters is a pastor, author (American Psalms), and speaker. He has been featured on CBN, HIS Radio, and the Light Radio Network. He’s also participated as a SAG-AFTRA member in the film industry. Connect with Joshua at joshuajmasters.com
