Recalculating.......recalculating.....intones the voice of my SatNav, as yet again I ignore the given directions and choose my usual route as I drive my car. I listen with irritation as I think I know the best route through St Albans to the motorway. At other times, as when I was new to the area, and I ended up on the M1 when trying to find the local Cattery, I would have welcomed a helpful voice to return me home.

I thought the other day that God seemed like my SatNav, as with the free will I have been given I have often chosen my own way in life, even though the signs clearly pointed in a different direction. For some, losing their way has been through addiction. In common with many addiction-help charities, recognition that a ‘higher power’ is needed, has led large numbers of people to take control of their addiction. Many, including Janis Feely, the inspirational founder of the St Albans charity ‘The Living Room’ whose charity has helped hundreds in Hertfordshire, and who gave a talk recently at Ss Alban & Stephen Church, acknowledge that ‘higher power’ as God.

God is with us in the messiness of our lives, and like my SatNav is there to be called on, to find a new route, out of our difficulties. Unlike a SatNav, God has infinite patience, and continues to be there to guide no matter how many times we get lost.