WAYFINDING: Navigating Life With God - Part 1

Part 1: Getting Your Bearings 

There are seasons in life when we seem to lose our bearings. Nothing dramatic may have happened. We haven’t necessarily lost our faith, our family or our sense of purpose. Yet something has shifted. The map that served us well for years no longer seems to fit the terrain beneath our feet.

Perhaps we’ve just finished school, started a new job, welcomed a child, watched our children leave home, experienced illness, retired, lost someone we love, changed churches, stepped out of career or ministry, or simply reached a stage where we’re asking deeper questions than before.

It’s a surprisingly common experience. We can be competent, committed, purposeful, even successful, and still find ourselves wondering, Where am I now? What is God doing? How do I move forward from here?

We often respond by trying harder or moving faster. Maybe we look for the next opportunity, the next strategy, the next breakthrough or the next goal. Yet wise navigators know that when you’ve lost your bearings, more effort or more speed is rarely the answer. Before deciding where to go, you first need to work out where you are.

The Bible is full of people who found themselves in unfamiliar territory.

Moses spent forty years in the wilderness before he was called to lead Israel. David was anointed as king long before he ever wore a crown. Ruth entered a foreign land with no certainty about her future. The disciples stood bewildered after the crucifixion, wondering what had become of all they had hoped for. Time and again, God met people not only in places of certainty but also in places of transition, waiting and reorientation.

Perhaps that should encourage us. Feeling uncertain doesn’t necessarily mean we’re lost. Or that we’ve wandered away from God. Sometimes it means we’re entering a new season where the old map no longer reveals the whole picture.

Over the years I’ve become increasingly convinced that one of the abiding invitations of the Christian life is to learn, at any moment, to locate ourselves in God. Not that we aren’t already in God, for as Scripture reveals, we live and move and have out being in Him ( Acts 17:28). But the shift we need is often not first in our location, but rather, in our perception.

That means pausing long enough to notice and pay attention to helpful questions be easily can rushed past.

For instance: Since there’s no place I can be where God is not present, where exactly is God for me right now? Now that is a great question to start with. It can shift our attention, provoke our curiosity, and invite us to sense for God’s presence in the spaces of our life.  And in doing so we can become aware of Him, perhaps beside us, or in front of us, or within us. And as we become aware of Him, we can focus on God pondering what God is like as he’s here now? Then aware of God present it’s easy to ask Him: Is there anything you want to say to me, do for me, or give me just now Lord?  Then it’s natural to engage, respond, receive – usually just what you need, whether you knew it or not.[1]

In times of change or disorientation, some other valuable questions can arise: Who am I? Whose am I? Who am I becoming? Where am I? Where have I come from? Where am I going? How will I get there? What am I here for? What’s my purpose? How will I fulfil it? Who will help me?

These are some of the deep questions that all people tend to need answered. These are not questions we answer once and we’re done. They return throughout our lives at different times because we are continually growing, changing and being formed. As a teacher, counsellor, minister and fellow traveler, I’ve noticed that often our struggles don’t come from a lack of sincerity, but from trying to live faithfully in a new season while trying to follow the map that belonged to an old one.

Children need to grow in trust as they depend on others. Young adults grow in courage as they step out in life themselves. Parents often learn sacrifice, caring, and investing in others through family life. Midlife frequently calls for endurance and faithfulness in building as well as pruning and deeper discernment. Elderhood invites us into deeper wisdom, into generosity as well as letting go, and embracing fruitfulness in quite different ways. Each season has its own gifts and its own work. Its blessings and challenges. One is not superior to another, and none can be skipped without consequence. God forms us over a lifetime, patiently weaving together joy and sorrow, success and disappointment, clarity and mystery into lives that increasingly reflect the character of Christ.

The great news is that we don’t navigate alone. The God who called Abraham from his homeland, who guided Israel through the wilderness by cloud and fire, who led Paul across continents, and who promises, “I am with you always,” has not stopped leading His people. He knows where you are, even if you’re not entirely sure yourself. Not only that, God places us in families, amongst friends, in teams and communities, that all play a part in our formation, in us getting our bearings, and finding our way.

Perhaps the first step just now is to pause long enough to ask, “Lord, where are you for me right now? And then, having connected with His presence, ask, “Where am I? What are You doing now, in this season? What are You inviting me to notice, become aware of today?”

Getting our bearings is not about having all the answers. It’s about becoming well located, grounded in God’s presence, attentive to His voice, honest about where we’re at, and willing to take the next faithful step. That’s where I think wisdom for the journey begins.

Why not take a few moments this week to reflect on these questions:

·      Where is God for me, and where am I, in this season of life, right now?

·      What has changed that I may not yet have fully acknowledged?

·      Which assumptions or expectations belong to an earlier season and not now?

·      What has God been saying, or reminding me of, that I need to pay fresh attention to?

·      What might one faithful next step look like this week?

[1] I am grateful for the brilliant work of Dr.Diane Divett: Refocussing and God Spaces.