he who has eyes...

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” [Jeremiah 29:11]

I think one of the things we as humans tend to do is attempt to have everything in our lives completely planned out. There is a security in knowing that today I’m doing this, tomorrow that, and in May I’m doing the other. In knowing all these things, I can have a general idea of what I should be doing today to accomplish all I have laid out in front of me. And this makes the small steps towards accomplishing something very large much less daunting.

As with many things, there is both wisdom and folly in this general trait we, as a people, possess. The folly seems somewhat obvious to those of us who are biblically literate. It comes from the book of James:

Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. [James 4:13-17]

God can lead us anywhere. He can do anything with our lives. To assume that we have it all figured out… well, it just doesn’t seem wise. As goes Ben Gibbard’s favorite joke, how do you make God laugh? (make a plan)

But, in another way, to know where you’re going seems to be a smart thing. I can take these words to such heart that I simply coast through life (as I tend to do) without putting much thought into where I’m going or what I’m doing. I can just assume that God will watch out for me and move the chairs out of my way as I blindly walk around so that I don’t stumble. I could do that. Or, I could try to get an idea of where God is leading me and attempt to be proactive towards working towards the goals He has set in front of me.

In my Vineyard Leadership Institute courses, we had one professor tell us an analogy he finds useful for having a vision for ministry. When you are lost in a forest, it’s a terrific thing to have a map. With a map, you can certainly tell how to get un-lost, right? Well, a map does very little good without knowing two key pieces of information:

1. Where am I going?
2. Where am I currently?

Without these two things, it’s pretty hard to know how to get yourself un-lost.

But, even then, it’s often very difficult to un-lose yourself (I’m really starting to like this word!). Even when you know where you’re going and you know where you are, it can seem absolutely impossible to get where you’re going. The task can seem too daunting. It can make your spirit heavy. It can make you want to give up and get eaten by wolves. Which kind of sucks.

A recent example of this came up in a recent conversation I was having with the official girlfriend of HWHE (I’m going to go ahead and steal a phrase from Gregg Easterbrook, here). As it pertains to my prayer/devotional life with the Lord, I know where I have to get. Unfortunately, I also know where I am. I likened it to being lost somewhere in Arizona, and knowing that I have to get to Schenectady, New York, but having not the slightest idea of how to get there. I feel that if I trust the Lord, I will get there no problem. But, I don’t really believe that He’s just going to tell me, “Here, Drew. Take a map. I’ve conveniently marked on it your destination. Have a great trip!” I feel like He’s going to give me these smaller trips along the way in an attempt to make this all look so much less daunting.

This analogy goes further. Suppose I have some directions to a place “along the route.” Suppose I’m sort of feeling that what I should be doing is going through Los Angeles first, and then making my way over to New York. Now, given just the slightest bit of reason, I know that this is not the way to go. I know that the Lord is probably leading me to Amarillo, Texas, which seems slightly less appealing (wait… less appealing than Los Angeles? I picked a bad analogy…), rather than LA. Following this path is going to take some discernment. God wants me to reason as I continue to grow in Him. He doesn’t want me to just throw logic aside as I wander towards my destination with Him placing little carrots (however magical they may be) in front of me. He wants me to seek Him with the next leg of my trip and then decide, based on my knowledge of His character, how to (and whether to) take this small venture on my way towards the larger Destination.

And, without the midpoints of Amarillo and Tulsa and St. Louis and Columbus and so on, I’m just going to get lost… or worse: end up giving up in Nevada and wondering what I ever did to deserve this.

So, as the Lord guides you to Schenectady, try to figure out the stops along the way. The ways in which He’s making it easier and less daunting to be obedient to Him. The ways in which He’s guiding you along your winding path. The ways in which He’s fathering you, helping you to grow in maturity instead of just expecting you to do it all yourself.

And, for goodness sake, stay away from Ron Lee’s World of Clowns. It’s out of your way.