I have a friend who loves the expedition stories of Lewis and Clark, the great American explorers. In a recent conversation, the two of us compared our own journeys with God to the adventures of this legendary pair. Learning to live newly is like a great exploration into uncharted lands, a high adventure in learning how to walk with God.
Although most of our world’s physical landscape has now been charted, our spiritual journeys are still a lot like Lewis and Clark’s. They took one day at a time, recalibrating and reassessing their position often. Taking in all that was around them at any given point, they were wise to stop and survey their surroundings. At this point it is safe to say that most of us have journeyed quite a long way. But unlike Lewis and Clark, we Christ followers do not travel away from home but rather toward home.
We’ve all heard the expression, A picture paints a thousand words… it’s time to supply a picture—a MAP…one that will serve as a useful tool for orientation and guide us on our journey toward home.
Maps are only helpful when they are laid out on the table or turned on and working. When we keep them in the glove compartment or tucked away, they don’t help…they can’t help. The map I am going to unfold over the following 10 days is an ancient one. All of its reference points can be helpful for orienting us to our current location so we can plan, calculate and form our next steps.
Now, making a plan is one thing and executing it is another. The different parts of this map we will cover over the next days are an attempt to illustrate the borders and boundaries of our lives in the spiritual realm and the best way to navigate our hearts safely through them. And being oriented is a very, very critical characteristic to experiencing the Life for which we were made! To be ORIENTED is to know with some certainty:
Who we are, Where we are and The Good that God is up to in our lives.
It will be helpful to remember that we live in a VERY Large Story; a great love story set in the midst of a great battle. And you must know the Larger Story your story is in or how will you possibly be able to play your part? Understanding this Larger Story (the context of our lives) is what sets the stage for us to wisely navigate the environment in which we find ourselves. Without Orientation (context), you will be a casualty, victim or worse: a POW… and this is not the life God meant for us to live. Just surviving is far from the full and abundant Life Jesus promised us so let's pack up and move out, covering some critical ground over the next 10 days.
In your time alone with God, ask Him:
Father, show me the areas of my life where I have become disoriented. Where have I lost my way?
Jesus, reveal to me any area of my life that I have not fully surrendered to Your leadership.
Holy Spirit, what is in the way of me letting You guide me through?
