Have you heard of Sint Maarten? It is an island in the Caribbean, with an interesting issue.

Psalm 46:1 tells us: “God is our refuge and strength, A very ready help in trouble.”

After we pray, sometimes we need to call for emergency services. (And then go back to praying while we wait). The problem on Sint Maarten is, if they send you an ambulance, it may not be able to find where to go.

On Sint Maarten, house numbers are assigned in the order built, not for their position on the street. Buildings can have multiple family dwellings in them, with front doors on various sides of the buildings. Also forget about using GPS where there is not even a map of the island.

After Hurricane Louise in 1995, the government decided to resolve the issue by changing the street names to something more logical and assigning new house numbers. In a place where generations have passed down the same home, this did not go over well, and many residents took down street signs and put up the previous one. Some people put up previous house numbers, while other people kept the original and new house number both displayed.

So let’s say you are an ambulance driver and you get a call. What they originally did was start driving and try to get to the right area, then call the person that needs help and ask for specific directions. Of course this caused the time to arrive to be much higher than it should be, and not all people that called for an ambulance, were able to answer the phone again, or well enough to give directions.

As time went on, ambulance drivers came up with a better idea. They realized there was one company that lives and dies by getting to a house quickly. That company is Domino’s Pizza. Domino’s spent time and resources making a detailed map of the island, road, and houses. For customers that have ordered pizza in the past, Domino’s tracks the house location, where the entrance is, the street, etc, using the currently listed signs that are on the streets and houses.

So, when an ambulance call comes in, they often first go to Domino’s, get directions and perhaps consult with the delivery drivers, then they plan their path, but Domino’s directs their ultimate destination. We as Christians, on the other hand, know we have someone much more knowledgeable than Domino’s to direct our steps:

Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of a person plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”

We still can plan our way, but we need to trust in God to direct our steps. We can only see so much of what is going on around us, where God knows the whole map, as well as the mind of everyone on that map. We may not always understand his direction, but we can trust it is the best way.