A couple of days ago, my wife and I found a turtle in our yard. He had apparently made his way from the reservoir just a hundred yards or so behind our house. He was headed toward the highway, where many turtles have met their doom.

We decided that Mr. Turtle’s best option was to be back at the reservoir. There he would be safe. There he would find everything a turtle needs in order to have a happy life.

When my wife first picked him up, the frightened little creature hid in his shell. It must have overwhelmed him to be in the presence of a being so much bigger and stronger than he was.

After a while he tried a different tactic, kicking frantically against my wife’s grip, desperately trying to gain freedom. Little did he know that we were in the process of saving him, not doing him harm.

Finally we reached our destination. My wife set the turtle down by the edge of the water. He quickly took a few steps and plunged in. Soon he was out of sight, enjoying the perfect environment for his happiness and well-being. He was in turtle heaven.

Our journey with God is much like our experience with the turtle. God sees us headed in the wrong direction, and he intercepts us, not wanting us to be destroyed. Confronted by God, we sometimes get frightened and hide, like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Or maybe we kick against God’s attempts to help us, frantically trying to release ourselves from his influence.

The best thing we can do is to allow God to place us where he wants us to be. He knows better than we do where the danger lies. He knows better than we do where we can thrive spiritually and enjoy life to the fullest. Let’s trust him to direct our steps so that we can make it safely to the best possible destination.