My father and I used to hunt deer together in the state of Idaho where I grew up. It was “male bonding time” with my dad, which I really enjoyed. Early one morning as we were hunting for mule deer, my father turned to me with a rather surprised expression on his face and told me we were lost! Lost? How could this have happened?

It can happen quite easily. When you are carefully looking for deer in the thick woods, you often don’t pay attention to landmarks. Thankfully my dad didn’t lose his cool. He rehearsed in his mind where we had walked, where he thought our destination should be, and then he told me to follow him. We walked and walked and walked. To tell you the truth, I wondered at times if we were ever going to see any familiar landmarks again. We had no food, other than a pheasant I had shot during the hunt, and not a drop of water. To make it worse, no person knew exactly where we were in the mountains of Central Idaho. It literally was true that only God knew where we were on our trek.

No Compass

But the worst of all—we had no compass. With no compass to use as a guide from our beginning point that early morning and to where we were in wilderness then, we had little to guide us out of our scary dilemma. Why didn’t we bring along a compass? This simple, $10 instrument can literally save lives.

Tired, hungry and a bit scared, some hours later my dad finally saw a familiar landmark high above us on the opposite side of the ravine—a jagged rock face—so we hiked to it and found our hunting friends waiting for us. Talk about relief!

Thankfully our story had a happy ending, but a lot of anxiety could have been avoided if we had brought along a compass to guide us on our hunting trip.

Spiritual Compass

Have you ever thought of God and His Bible as a “spiritual compass”? A physical compass is used to safely get the user to his destination. My dad and I made a serious mistake by going deep into the forest without a compass. In the same way, God wants us to make Him our spiritual Compass to get us to our destination safely. God tells us that by using Him as our spiritual Compass, along with His Holy Bible, we will avoid many costly mistakes in our lives.

Notice what King David wrote in this regard: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer” (2 Samuel 22:2). David then adds in 2 Samuel 22:29: “For You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness.” He also wrote, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

God is clearly our compass in our lives if we look to Him and His Bible for instruction. As a young man, King David (who was very familiar with the outdoors) learned to trust in God as his spiritual compass. And as a teen, now is the time to learn how to make God your Guide in your daily life.

Notice this point in Ecclesiastes 12:1: “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’”

• Seek God as your spiritual compass. Pray before you begin your day. Don’t get “lost” in your life by not seeking God. Daniel prayed three times a day: “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days” (Daniel 6:10).
• Study God’s Bible to get your bearings. When you study the Bible you find out where you are in life and what is right or wrong. You begin to come out of the woods and into safe territory again. Before making decisions, find out what God has to say about it in His Word and pray that God will point you in the right direction.

Just as a compass is used for navigation and orientation, this regular column will help you keep your spiritual compass pointed toward God and His way of life. If you do, you will never become “lost,” and you will avoid all kinds of spiritual, physical and emotional difficulties.