What is the shortest distance between points A and B? A straight line, when measured on a flat surface! One of the flattest places on Earth is Saudi Arabia! According to Guinness, Highway 10 was built as a private road for King Fahd, in the west of Saudi Arabia and is 240 km (149 mi) long. It cuts through the desert with no bends left or right. The super-straight stretch has an estimated driving time of around 2 hr.
There is another road in Saudi Arabia that is even longer, with a few slight bends. Running from Arar (the capital of Northern Borders Province) to Al Nairyah (a governorate in Eastern Province), Highway 85 features 822 km (510 miles) of straightness, perfectly straight, and the corners are very long sweepers, when they do come about. It’s a straight road running right through the desert for 8 hr 45 min.
By most measures, people have mastered navigation. Think about it! Over time we have figured out how to leave the safety of land and travel the globe. Our space program has figured out how to go to deep space and return! As I type this, there are engineers working on how to put a person on another planet. We have developed tools on our phones and in our cars to get us as quickly as possible from one point to the other. We can even predict the future and determine exactly when we will arrive!!
However, according to researchers, if we had all those tools taken away, blindfolded, and had to walk a straight line, we couldn’t do it. Maybe that is why Romo can’t find the endzone! (Sorry triggered) Seriously, without some form of reference, such as a mountain, a building, or even the sun, people are incapable of walking in a straight line, no matter how hard we try. It happens whether we’re blindfolded or just lost in the grocery store. Men don’t ask for directions.
We don’t know for sure, but scientists have been able to rule out a few possibilities. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany discovered that body asymmetries (different-sized legs, right-handedness vs. left-handedness, etc.) didn’t account for such vast misdirection. Additionally, the idea that people can’t correctly calculate the movement of their legs doesn’t explain the tight-looped pattern off walking in circles. The Max Planck scientists theorize that with every blindfolded step, a very small directional discrepancy from a straight line is introduced, which then compounds with every additional step. Without the aid of visual references to unconsciously correct for these discrepancies, blindfolded people can’t navigate a straight line, and will inevitably begin walking in tight-looped circles. While this theory explains why humans do this, scientists aren’t sure of the biological how. For now, this straight-line conundrum remains one of the many mysteries of the human brain and body.
I can’t help but make the spiritual connection to these truths! Proverbs 3:5-6 is a well-known and often quoted passage, but I think the familiarity to it has caused us to miss the powerful application of its truth. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight!
Even the slightest deviation from the intended course can put us miles off in direction. This also applies to our “path of life.” Small missteps and unintended choices early on can cause us to wind up in a place we never intended to be later in life. Unrealized decisions parents in the moment can cause our children to be way off from where we want them to be years down the road. We look back and ask ourselves how this could have happened only to realize it all began with a small, seemingly insignificant, choice years in the past. This is one of the reasons why a structured routine is so important in the Christian life. We must decide today where we want to go and make consciences decisions along the way to make sure we arrive safely at that destination years later. What that might mean is making sacrifices today and ignoring social pressure to ensure our safe landing.
As the research shows, we have to have landmarks of reference to walk a straight line. God has given us these landmarks in the way of regular church attendance, a healthy prayer life, daily Bible study and surrounding our family with people who want what we want out of life. Stopping to ask directions might not be a man thing, but it is pivotal in the Christian walk.
If your life seems off course, it might be time for a correction. Look for those Spiritual Landmarks God has placed out there for all of us to see. Let His Word be your North Star and get back on that straight path!
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
There is another road in Saudi Arabia that is even longer, with a few slight bends. Running from Arar (the capital of Northern Borders Province) to Al Nairyah (a governorate in Eastern Province), Highway 85 features 822 km (510 miles) of straightness, perfectly straight, and the corners are very long sweepers, when they do come about. It’s a straight road running right through the desert for 8 hr 45 min.
By most measures, people have mastered navigation. Think about it! Over time we have figured out how to leave the safety of land and travel the globe. Our space program has figured out how to go to deep space and return! As I type this, there are engineers working on how to put a person on another planet. We have developed tools on our phones and in our cars to get us as quickly as possible from one point to the other. We can even predict the future and determine exactly when we will arrive!!
However, according to researchers, if we had all those tools taken away, blindfolded, and had to walk a straight line, we couldn’t do it. Maybe that is why Romo can’t find the endzone! (Sorry triggered) Seriously, without some form of reference, such as a mountain, a building, or even the sun, people are incapable of walking in a straight line, no matter how hard we try. It happens whether we’re blindfolded or just lost in the grocery store. Men don’t ask for directions.
We don’t know for sure, but scientists have been able to rule out a few possibilities. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany discovered that body asymmetries (different-sized legs, right-handedness vs. left-handedness, etc.) didn’t account for such vast misdirection. Additionally, the idea that people can’t correctly calculate the movement of their legs doesn’t explain the tight-looped pattern off walking in circles. The Max Planck scientists theorize that with every blindfolded step, a very small directional discrepancy from a straight line is introduced, which then compounds with every additional step. Without the aid of visual references to unconsciously correct for these discrepancies, blindfolded people can’t navigate a straight line, and will inevitably begin walking in tight-looped circles. While this theory explains why humans do this, scientists aren’t sure of the biological how. For now, this straight-line conundrum remains one of the many mysteries of the human brain and body.
I can’t help but make the spiritual connection to these truths! Proverbs 3:5-6 is a well-known and often quoted passage, but I think the familiarity to it has caused us to miss the powerful application of its truth. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight!
Even the slightest deviation from the intended course can put us miles off in direction. This also applies to our “path of life.” Small missteps and unintended choices early on can cause us to wind up in a place we never intended to be later in life. Unrealized decisions parents in the moment can cause our children to be way off from where we want them to be years down the road. We look back and ask ourselves how this could have happened only to realize it all began with a small, seemingly insignificant, choice years in the past. This is one of the reasons why a structured routine is so important in the Christian life. We must decide today where we want to go and make consciences decisions along the way to make sure we arrive safely at that destination years later. What that might mean is making sacrifices today and ignoring social pressure to ensure our safe landing.
As the research shows, we have to have landmarks of reference to walk a straight line. God has given us these landmarks in the way of regular church attendance, a healthy prayer life, daily Bible study and surrounding our family with people who want what we want out of life. Stopping to ask directions might not be a man thing, but it is pivotal in the Christian walk.
If your life seems off course, it might be time for a correction. Look for those Spiritual Landmarks God has placed out there for all of us to see. Let His Word be your North Star and get back on that straight path!
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14
Serving the Savior,
Bro. Jonathan
Recent
Archive
2026
May
June
July
2025
2024
January
February
April
May
June
August
October
November
2023
June
July
September
November
Categories
Tags
no tags