Life is A Maze(ing)

We have learned this week that God doesn’t always give us direct answers to the big questions of life. What are we supposed to do when we have prayed and it still seems unclear what we should do? Today I want to introduce you to a tool called Stones Wires Fires. This tool is designed to help you observe your life. After going through this exercise you will have given yourself time to reflect on the various components that God and circumstances have put in your life. This tool can be invaluable when trying to make decisions for the future. You may not come away from this with some revelation from heaven but data is always helpful when making decisions.

First, quiet your heart in prayer and ask God to use this time of reflection. You can experience a more productive time if you don’t have distractions so silent your phone and find a place where you can focus. You can spend a long time on this tool if you like but I’d encourage you to spend at least 3-5 minutes reflecting and listing thoughts for each of the elements of the exercise.

Now, list 3-5 ideas under each of the Stones, Wires, and Fires. Don’t judge any of the elements on your list. This is about observing your life not judging it. It’s not helpful to be dishonest with yourself in order to avoid shame.  

Stones

The stones of your life are the major life events that have shaped you. These things can be good (marriage, birth of a child) or hard (divorce of your parents, loss of a loved one).

Wires

This is how you are wired. Your personality, your spiritual gifts, and your temperament all make up how you are wired.

Fires

Fires are the things that you are passionate about. What gets you really excited? What do you spend your time thinking about? What challenges in the world would you most like to solve?

Finally, look at your list. What do you see? Is there a theme? Now what decisions did you bring into this exercise and does your list of Stones Wires and Fires give you any insight? You can also show your list to a trusted friend and ask them if they see any patterns.

I hope this tool has helped you in your process. If you don’t see any evident direction yet, give it some time. It often takes time to notice the connections between the various mile markers in your life.

By Aaron Bjorklund  

Therefore, we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements. Acts 15:27-28a

Have you ever felt like God wasn’t giving you an answer to a question you have? Where do you go for an answer? Sometimes we need to look around us at what God is doing and join him in his work. Sometimes we need to trust in the character of the God who loves us, who brings good, who brings life; we need to trust in his timing. Sometimes we need to pay attention to the words already given to us in scripture. Paul and Barnabas relied on the reports of what God had been doing through trustworthy elders and men who had risked their lives for Christ to get their answer.

In Acts 15, it “seemed good” to the leaders. What does “seemed good” mean? Perhaps a peace was given. Each leader and elder experienced something like peace in their personal discerning from the Holy Spirit that their decision would give life to the new believers and the growing churches. In Deuteronomy 30, God addresses the nation of Israel “I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity…. choose life so that you and your descendants may live.” Wisdom enables us to choose life and God says it is not far away, but is very near to us, in our mouths and in our hearts (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). Perhaps in God’s silence, we might realize the answer is already there. Sometimes we just need to rest in his presence, open and receptive.

How do we rest when we don’t get a word from God? Seek a peace that “seems good.” Spiritual director Ruth Barton says guidance “involves the ability to notice what brings a sense of life and freedom to the true self as we experience ourselves in God.” Sensing  the movement of God’s Spirit within ourselves and in the lives of others is a habit we can learn. Instead of grasping for and generating our own answers, we can be open to receive the Holy Spirit’s nudging in our heart and our mind.

Take a few moments to quiet yourself in God’s presence. Rest in God’s deep love for you. What “seems good” and life-giving concerning that question you’ve been waiting for God to answer?

By Donna Burns

The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”… it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Acts 15:6-11;25

  Can you picture the scene? Church leaders gathered together discussing whether or not keeping the whole Law (sacrifices, circumcision and all) is to be a requirement for Jesus-followers or are Christians everywhere truly freed from the burden of the Law? What a pivotal moment in church history. Dusty sandals, arms spread open in prayer, murmurs of thoughts and input, debate including traditions and scripture and opinions, brotherly love extended in the midst of heated discussion.

How did they go from “no small dissension” to “in one accord” within the context of community? How messy could that discussion have been? I imagine it was quite complicated. Because people are complicated. Anytime more than one person is making a decision, the process is bound to be complicated. We are human and we come with different perspectives, personalities and experiences. My husband, an Enneagram 8, does not shy away from voicing opinions. I, on the other hand, would rather run in the opposite direction. It can be easier to make decisions on our own. Much harder as a group. Yet we must make decisions with the guidance of the Holy Spirit in community (whether it be between two people or ten) if we are to be a healthy, growing church.

I recently reread a thought-provoking and challenging book called Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan and Switzler. In it the authors explore how people who are excellent at communicating and handling difficult conversations do it. Among the many skills explored in the book is the idea that great communicators recognize a “shared pool of meaning.” Some people force their opinions into the pool while others may withhold their opinions – both are usually motivated by fear. Our goal as communicators within community should be to create a safe space where all feel welcomed to respectfully add to the pool of meaning for the purpose of contributing to the group’s best interest and best potential decision. This requires a respect for and invitation for others to share their stories and a willingness for us to truly listen.

Is there a relationship struggle you are in right now that could benefit from you humbly listening to the other person’s story? Is there a conversation you know needs to happen but you’re afraid of how to move forward? I encourage you today to first, ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and motivation to bravely communicate with that person and second, to seek out resources such as Crucial Conversations to help guide you along the way.  

By Ellen Rosenberger

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” Acts 15:1-5

Have you ever stopped to think about how many decisions you make on a daily basis? A study concluded we make somewhere around 35,000 decisions every single day. That makes roughly 2,000 decisions per hour (that you’re awake) or one decision every two seconds. Decisions really do make up the fabric of our lives. As Haddon Robinson said, “We want to make right decisions, for we realize that the decisions we make turn around and make us. As we choose one end of the road we choose the other.”

However, not all decisions are created equal. There are some decisions that carry more weightiness than others. We don’t typically pray about what shirt we’re going to wear, but we do pray about things we deem more important – like how to navigate a difficult relationship, which job to pursue, or which apartment to rent. When it comes to life-altering decisions, what grid should we use? The scriptures don’t give us a checklist, but they do give us a series of stories and real life experiences that can serve as a framework for us to use.

Acts 15 recounts arguably the most important decision the church has ever made. It’s the story of the Jerusalem Council where church leaders decided Jesus followers were not bound to the Mosaic Covenant. Throughout this narrative, there is a decision making grid that is espoused.

1. See the trajectory: does the decision I’m considering align with the way I see God working in my life and in his world? Every decision we make is the next chapter of our story, not a new story.
2. Compare for consistency: does the decision I’m considering honor the commands given in the scriptures and the life Jesus called us to live? If it’s contradictory to God’s commands under the New Covenant, it’s not God’s will.
3. Seek out collective wisdom: what do people I respect think about the decision I’m considering? Have I sought out godly advice?
4. Ask God: in Acts 15:28 it says, “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” As the church leaders did the previous three steps, they were praying and asking God to confirm the direction – and he did! There was no clear word from heaven, but there was a clear leading from the Spirit.  

Following the steps outlined in Acts 15 doesn’t guarantee we’ll always find God’s will, but they are tools for seeking God’s direction in a way that has worked for people of God in the past. So, what decisions are you facing? Choose one big decision and lay it over the grid presented; ask Jesus what he might want to say to you.

By Ryan Paulson

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:19-21

Scattered. Cloudy. Disconnected. Sometimes life feels like swirling chaos. Your schedule is at full capacity. Relationships are demanding. And recognizing, let alone living in, the way of Jesus feels next to impossible.
What do you do on those days? Where does your heart go? What do you lean on to find stability?

For Paul, wisdom is making the most of our days (Ephesians 5:15-16). But how do we make the most of those days when we feel so disoriented – not able to discern right from wrong or up from down?

Paul suggests finding the way of wisdom is predicated on God being in his rightful place and us being in ours. First, when we recognize God in his rightful place, there is only one who deserves praise. Second, when we recognize ourselves in our rightful place, we realize how much we have to be grateful for. Third, when we recognize the first two, we gain wisdom and begin to see submission from a healthy position where God’s commands come from his love for us and where God’s words advocate for our joy.

Sometimes the best thing we can do in times of great confusion is to pause and pray. Here’s an example of a prayer of re-orientation. You could try this one or perhaps write your own.

God, you are the king of kings, Lord of lords, master of masters. You are the creator of the universe and designer of all humanity. You are the sustainer of life and the ruler of all authorities in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. You alone deserve honor and glory and power and praise – both now and into eternity.

God, You have created me to be human – finite and dependent. My limits are for my good and my dependence is for your glory.
God, you have created me to be your child – resembling you and obeying you. This is because you love me and you desire my deepest joy. Help me to trust you today to be the Lord of my situation. Grant me wisdom as I trust in you.

By Yvonne Biel

For this reason, also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Colossians 1:9

You may have heard the phrase “every person has a God shaped hole.” It is from French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre who was actually an atheist trying to make the point that people search for God to fill an emptiness in them that can never be filled. He was right: we can’t fill it; only God can fill it. We can trust him to fill us in the right way with the right things.

We try filling the hole in our lives with a lot of things. We make valiant attempts at coping with, numbing, and filling that empty place. God made us and is asking us to let him fill us up and give us life abundant. Instead of the empty hole in our life causing us to clutch and grasp at the nearest fix, imagine the hole representing your openness to be filled, like an outstretched hand ready to receive. Elijah let God fill that hole by crossing a wilderness and sitting in a cave at Mt. Horeb, a place where others had met God. He waited for God to fill his emptiness, and God gave him what he needed most, the very presence of God himself. In a still, small voice, God told him what to do next, he obeyed, and shortly after he was whisked away to heaven.

How are we filled with the knowledge of His will? When we are filled with him, we will be filled with the knowledge of his will. It is personal and specific. It’s more about how much of us the Spirit has rather than how much of the Spirit we have. Our life becomes an outflow and an overflow of being filled by God himself. Spend a prayerful moment with open upturned palms. Close your eyes and let God do the speaking and the filling.

By Donna Burns

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.  James 4:13-17

So often it seems that discussions on the will of God focus on the future. What does God have for me in my life? How will he lead me and guide my family into where we are supposed to be and what we are supposed to be doing? When will I know for sure that I’ve landed in the perfect center of God’s will? Certainly not today, right?

God’s will tends to feel futuristic, somewhere out there beyond today. God’s will can feel like it’s for tomorrow. But then tomorrow never comes because tomorrow always turns into today. What if we changed our mindset to be that God’s will is today, not tomorrow? Because, as James says, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We really only have today. So let’s be present for it. Let’s live in today and live out God’s will today rather than focusing on tomorrow. Let’s not meander through today but be fully present in it.

I’ve thought recently about what sorts of time-wasters are in my life and how I can rid myself of them. Why? So I can focus on more important things: cultivating my faith, investing in my family, prioritizing self care, etc. How about you? Can you identify time-wasters in your life or things that rob you from being in the moment, fully present to your circumstances the people God has placed right there with you? Take a moment today and jot this question down: If God’s will was only about today, what would be at the top of your to-do list? Ponder your answer and ask the Holy Spirit to help you live it out not tomorrow, but today.

By Ellen Rosenberger

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26

God’s will can be scary, can’t it? Have you ever wondered what God would ask you to do if you decided to submit to him fully? Maybe he would send you to some jungle tribe in Africa. Maybe he would ask you to live a life of selfless poverty. Maybe he would give you some unbearable trial to keep you humble. What if God’s will is for a boring life where you don’t watch any good movies and don’t go to any good parties and can’t laugh at any truly funny jokes?

Perhaps we should consider whether or not we really want God’s will. If I’m honest I have a barrier to submitting to God’s will. Deep down I fear that his will might lead me to a life of hardship.

The big question is: can God be trusted? Is God good? What are his intentions toward me? Maybe before you ask God to guide, you need to ask him if he is good. Reconciling an answer to that question is best done by looking at the life of Jesus. The scriptures clearly teach us that Jesus is what God is like. Find out what Jesus is like and then ask yourself if you can trust him. Is he good? As I get to know Jesus more and more I am convinced that I want whatever he wants. For much of my Christian life I was secretly (sometimes subconsciously) afraid of God’s plan for me. There is no way to see his path clearly if we don’t want it. As I get to know what God is like through learning from Jesus I become more and more excited about whatever he has in mind for me. He is so good! Once you trust God fully, his will becomes more and more transparent.

Try starting in Matthew 6:25-34 and asking God to show you his heart for you. Ask him to begin to show you what he is like. Be honest about your fears with him and ask him to show you his love for you. Then and only then will you have ears to hear his plan for you.

By Aaron Bjorklund