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At the risk of boasting, I have to admit that I’m pretty good at the video game Mario Kart. True, my children beat me more than I beat them, but often not by more than a whisker. When I do lose, it’s often because my character got turned around on the track and is driving full speed in the wrong direction. At that point a big, red U-turn arrow pops up on the screen to get my attention.

Sometimes we need a big U-turn arrow to pop up in our own lives. We need it when we’re heading down a self-destructive path—drinking too much, involving ourselves emotionally with someone who’s married, cutting corners at work, or getting stuck in negative emotional habits. At other times there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the road we’re on, but it’s just not the right one for us. We may be pursuing a job that won’t suit us, a relationship that won’t work, a plan for our lives that will keep us from serving God as he wants. At such times, the U-turn arrow might take various forms—circumstances that block the path ahead, a nagging feeling that something isn’t right, a Bible passage that keeps coming to mind, a word from friends. If we heed the signs and turn around, we will likely save ourselves and others a lot of grief. We will also become happier and more peaceful because we will be better aligned with God’s will for our lives.

If you feel your life has gotten off track in some way, take heart. God does allow U-turns, chances to make a course correction when doing so will lead you closer to him.   More

Like life itself, the journey toward peace rarely proceeds along a predictable path. Sometimes it may even seem as though you have taken one step forward and two steps back. What do you do then?

One thing you can do is begin to think about where you want to go and how you are going to get there. Just as you wouldn’t start driving from New York to Florida by heading north to Canada, it would be foolish to set the wrong course on your journey toward peace. Progress can only be made if you continue heading in the right direction, which means, of course, that you are heading in God’s direction.

When it comes to navigating the journey, think of repentance as a spiritual GPS that will keep you on course. The Greek word for “repentance” is metanoia, which suggests a radical turning away from sin in order to turn back to God. Without such a turning, all our efforts to become people at peace will fail. As Christians, we know that repentance is more than a one-time event. It’s something we need to do daily, making necessary course corrections whenever we falter.

Our lack of peace may or may not be attributed to our own sins. But sin is certainly a major obstacle in our quest to experience more of God’s peace. However you are feeling today, ask the Lord for grace to recognize the things in your life that are off kilter. As you admit your failings, imagine yourself turning from them and toward God, confident that he will abundantly pardon.   More

Many of us feel confused and anxious when it comes to making major life decisions. How should we spend our money? Who should we marry? Where should we live? What job should we take? These and countless other questions can be difficult to sort out. How can we experience God’s peace in the midst of such life-altering choices?

The best advice I have encountered on this topic comes from a man who surrendered his life to Christ in the early part of the sixteenth century, Ignatius of Loyola. Based on his own experience, Ignatius wrote what would become a spiritual classic. The Spiritual Exercises is a book that offers uniquely helpful guidance on discerning God’s will for your life.

In The Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius reminds us that we should make every decision with the proper end in mind. For a Christian, that end or purpose is to deepen our life with God. Embracing that principle reduces our anxiety because we realize that any decision we make is merely a means to that end. And why would God not want to help us when he has already told us, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8)?

As we pray, seeking God’s will for our lives, Ignatius tells us to notice how we are feeling. Pay attention, he says, to feelings of “spiritual consolation” (every increase in hope, faith, and charity) and to feelings of “spiritual desolation” (feelings of darkness, disturbance, temptation, and disquiet). Ignatius advises us to make the decision that moves our hearts toward spiritual consolation rather than desolation.

Of course, we should also seek the counsel of mature Christians who know us well and who can confirm or question a direction we are considering. Decision making doesn’t have to be fraught with confusion and anxiety. Instead, we can experience God’s peace as we seek his will.  More

I was driving down the highway last night when a luxury car whizzed past. I noticed a streak of gleaming white and something else that caught my attention. Emblazoned on its license plate was one simple word: needy. I laughed out loud, appreciating the humor and audacity of such a self-designation. That car made me think about the enormous spread between what we think will make us happy (things like luxury cars) and what really does make us happy.

It’s no secret that human beings are wired for pleasure. It’s what fuels our materialistic instincts. We get a quick rush from buying things. A friend of mine sells expensive laboratory equipment to hospitals. At the end of the day, she says, the purchasing decision is always an emotional one. Hospital employees, it seems, get a kick out of buying the latest, greatest gadgets and machines for labs and operating rooms.

Though it’s natural to enjoy buying things, we all know that such pleasures can become addictive. To keep the rush going, we have to keep buying more stuff. Doing so can empty our souls as well as our wallets, making us dependent on shallow pleasures.

If you doubt this, spend a little time taking inventory of all you own. Maybe your vice is shoes or clothes. Or maybe it’s being up on the latest in technology. Or maybe you think a new car or new decor for your home will make you feel good. But let’s be honest: how many of your possessions have given you anything resembling the peace your heart desires?    More

Have you ever noticed how some preachers mangle the word God, transforming it into a two-syllable word that sounds something like “Gawd”? I mean no disrespect, but it rankles me every time I hear it because it strikes me as pretentious. We would do better to use simple, honest words.

Speaking of honesty, let’s stop trying to put on a front, hoping others will think we’re better than we are. Doing so rarely fools anyone. The main problem with facades is that they discourage the work of the Spirit in us. God builds on truth, not falsehood. If we want to experience more of his grace, we need to lay our struggles and sins before him without pretension.

John Ortberg, in his book The Life You’ve Always Wanted, shares his own struggle with pretension. “I am disappointed with myself,” he confesses. “I am disappointed not so much with particular things I have done as with aspects of who I have become. I have a nagging sense that all is not as it should be. . . .

“I attend a high school reunion and can’t choke back the desire to stand out by looking more attractive or having achieved more impressive accomplishments than my classmates. I speak to someone with whom I want to be charming, and my words come out awkward and pedestrian. I am disappointed in my ordinariness. I want to be, in the words of Garrison Keillor, named ‘Sun-God, King of America, Idol of Millions, Bringer of Fire, the Great Haji, Thun-Dar the Boy Giant.’” ¹

What pretensions have you been holding on to in your relationship with God and others? Queen of America, Thun-Dar the Girl Giant, Idol of Millions? Whatever they are, have the humility and the humor to let go of them in God’s presence, trusting that as you do, he will build on the truth of who you are in Christ—Sinner Saved by Grace, Daughter of God, Beloved of the Lord.  More

¹ John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 11–12.