The Five Minute Friday assignment is to write for five minutes on a prompt word, post it and share with fellow Five Minute friends at Kate’s place on Facebook at  http://www.fiveminutefriday.com. Around 100 of us gather round to encourage and support our fellow Christian writers, writing in a variety of styles and genres. It’s always very interesting to see how a simple word take shape into posts. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes not as much and always entertaining. Be sure to stop in and read the diversity of thought at Kate’s place. And don’t be afraid to join in!

I’ve been sharing snippets taken from Five Minute Friday: A Collection of Stories Written in Five Minutes Flat. They are a testament to the value of the exercise. This week, I’ll share some perspective from Annette, who I hope inspires you to check us out or, better yet, encourage you to try your hand at focused, unscripted writing for just five minutes. And share it on Kate’s website.

“What does FMF mean to me?

“The fun of seeing how others react to the same word. Some weeks it seems like EVERYONE has the same thoughts, and other weeks the thoughts are as varied as the people in the world. It’s always a surprise, The encouragement that people offer is much appreciated. It’s good to meet new people and be exposed to different thoughts, all while having a quick write. Some words take pondering over to see how they resonate and some words simply don’t. It’s great not to be tied down and have the freedom to come and go as desired.”

The word this week is GUIDE. The clock is started, so let’s GO …

Appropriately, this afternoon in my travels, I spotted a church sign that read, “Man gives directions, God gives guidance.” Hmmm

It got me to thinking about the truth of that statement. Way back when, for example, when I first started driving, we had paper maps to give us directions. Today, we have GPS and guidance systems. I’m never without Google Maps — even if I’m on a familiar route — since it not only give directions but road conditions. We’ve come a long way, baby, from Moses’ wanderings.

Yes, we get pretty good directions as we navigate from Point A to Point B from our man-made electronic devices.

But our destination is much further than Point B. It’s eternity. If I punch that into Google Maps, I might get some physical sites like Eternity Circle in St. Cloud, FL {honest!} or Eternity Court in Germantown, MD … but not ETERNITY.

Don’t despair. Like the sign said, we not only have directions, but guidance along the route. It’s all there in the Book.

Just like those old multi-folded maps of bygone days, we still have to get our bearings {north, south … STOP

… east, west}. And we have to know the general direction we’re going. If we were supposed to turn right in Columbus and suddenly see the skyline in our rear view mirror, we have to re-navigate. We just have to follow the map. And of course, it always helps to have a navigator doing the mapwork.

It’s no different on the road over the River Jordan. Sometimes, we may zig when we should have zagged, turned right at the fork instead of left. However, we always have a Navigator and Guide. He has already mapped out the fastest {notice I didn’t say easiest} route. We just have to follow that route. And when we don’t, He’s ready, willing and able to re-navigate. We just have to be willing to seek out His expertise. Surprise! It’s in our Guide — the Bible.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: You only lose after you give up — Steven Fox