GPS. Global Positioning System. The technology was originally developed for the military and built upon the existing Transit system. The Transit system began with the launching of a satellite in 1960 and provided navigational information for maritime usage. On this day in 1978, Navstar1 was launched by the U.S. Air Force, placing the first GPS satellite into orbit.
“GPS satellites travel through medium earth orbit, 12,550 miles high, and circle the globe once every 12 hours. They work by emitting radio signals, which are picked up by receivers on the ground. The receivers then calculate location and time, based on comparing the signals from at least four different satellites. Modern GPS technology can accurately pinpoint a location anywhere on earth, within several meters, 95 percent of the time…
“The first portable GPS device for civilians, the Magellan Nav 1000, went on sale to the public in 1989. It cost $3,000, weighed a clunky 1.5 pounds, and only offered a few hours of battery life.”1 It’s hard to believe that many of these were sold when a Rand McNally Atlas sold for under $10.
What would we do today without GPS? Does anyone even own a map? I can’t remember the last time I opened an atlas and physically mapped out a trip. Now, you just open Google maps, type in your destination address, use “My Location” as your starting point, and click “search.” Almost instantly, the fastest route is provided along with detour information, construction sites, stalled vehicles, speed traps, and other hazards.
The accuracy can’t be beat! Almost 40 years ago, I would visit my soon-to-be wife in Kentucky. The straightest route isn’t the fastest route, but you couldn’t tell that from a map. Making the trip years later using GPS took me a route I would have never considered, swinging me through Indianapolis, Indiana and using major highways. Over two hours got shaved off the journey! Think of the fuel I could have saved that summer!
Has the GPS ever let me down? Definitely! It has led me astray, taken me the long way, told me “This road does not exist” while I was driving on it, and just recently, sent me into a closed road in Anderson, Indiana, telling me “You have arrived” at my destination when I clearly had not. And yet, I will trust it 100% of the time when I start out on a journey to an unfamiliar destination. Without hesitation, I will embark on the journey, following its directions to the letter.
God has His own GPS. It stands for God’s Perfect Strategy. Psalms 119:133 says, “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” God’s perfect strategy is that we get into His Word and allow the Scriptures to order our steps, directing us and guiding us through the day.
God’s Word offers guidance, lights our path, and provides clarity in a world full of uncertainty. Psalms 119:105 reminds us, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” If we want to know where to go and how to get there safely, we need the light of God’s Word to illuminate the way.
My GPS (Global Positioning System) has let me down but God’s GPS (God’s Perfect Strategy) has never failed. The only failure that occurs is on my part when I decide to deviate from His route. In order to get back on track or to avoid going off in the first place, it would do us well to put Psalms 139:23-24 into practice. “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: (24) And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/navstar-1-first-operational-gps-satellite-launches
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