Overview:
Bishop Saunders of Transformation Church in Baltimore, Maryland, shared a powerful analogy during a sermon about God's Positioning System, likening it to the global positioning satellite technology. He emphasized that God's plan for success is always waiting for us to resume our previous trip and fulfill our destinies. The message was particularly encouraging for those who feel like they've missed their season or struggled to complete projects. It serves as a reminder that God's gifts and call are irrevocable, and we only need to choose to resume the trip to fulfill our purposes.
Last week, I wrote about verbal GPS, and this week, I want to share another column about GPS, which I call God’s Positioning System. A few years ago, I had the privilege of visiting Transformation Church in Baltimore, Maryland, as a part of the Anointed Author book tour. For the most part, the worship service was fairly uneventful until the Pastor, Bishop Monroe Saunders, began to minister. He’d been previously scheduled to go out of town and wasn’t even scheduled to preach.
Throughout his sermon, Bishop Saunders kept repeating that this message was to specifically remind someone and encourage them of God’s plan for success. What was so awesome about this experience was that many of the things that he spoke about during the message were things that the authors on the book tour had spoken about during previous conversations. By the end of the service, we agreed that it was for us…he didn’t know that a last-minute scheduling change brought us to his church’s 2nd morning service.
I think what he said that had the biggest impact was his analogy of GPS, better known as global positioning satellite, the practical modern technology that allows you to locate people, places, and things. He pointed out how his vehicle navigation system allowed him to map out trips. Most importantly, if he turned off the car before the trip was completed, the trip details were saved in the car’s computer. The next time the car was started, the vehicle asked if the driver wanted to resume the trip. The driver then has the option of saying yes or no.
As he further explained the example, he stated that when we return to His purpose after discouragement, disobedience, or distraction, God is always waiting with the question, “Do you wish to resume the previous trip?” There are no questions about what we have been doing since we got off track, but simply the focus on fulfilling purpose. He called it God’s Positioning System, which is always focused on keeping us in line with God’s will for our lives. It was a simple but very encouraging message for those of us who felt like we’d missed our season or used reasons like “I can’t do that” to explain why we hadn’t yet fulfilled our purpose.
His message showed that God is waiting for us to resume the trip to complete our destinies. I’ve thought about this more in the last few months as I’ve struggled to finish writing projects and fight feeling like I’m behind schedule. Romans 11:29 says, “For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.” (Amplified) It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been off track or how far off track we’ve gotten. What matters is that we choose to resume the trip.
Shewanda Riley is a Dallas, Texas-based author of “Love Hangover: Moving from Pain to Purpose After a Relationship Ends” and “Writing to the Beat of God’s Heart: A Book of Prayers for Writers.” Email her at preservedbypurpose@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @shewanda.