A dogeared copy of a Fodor's travel guide accompanied me throughout Europe during the year I studied abroad. I was in unfamiliar territory, listening to languages I didn't speak, and trying to negotiate train schedules, bed and breakfast options, and museum hours. At the many crossroads I encountered, I pulled out the guidebook for reassurance. There I found voices of experience. Though they couldn't take the journey for me, they provided me with insights along the path I was on.
But new inns open. Currency rates fluctuate. Tourist sites close for renovations. Weather delays a ferry. As most travelers discover, even constantly updated travel guides can't anticipate every circumstance.
So there was another guidebook in my backpack as well, one that had withstood the test of time. It, too, was filled with many voices of experience, but these were charting a spiritual landscape. This guidebook was my Bible. And in it, prophets, kings, widows, men and women of faith, confronted issues that I could relate to: fear, deprivation, discouragement, danger. Their decision to turn to God garnered them safety and abundant provision. Whatever the apparent need, God's love proved more than equal to it. Trust in divine Love is something well worth traveling with.
