I don’t get lost easily, I have a good sense of direction.  The few times I have been lost, it is not a welcome feeling.  In a sense I feel lost at the moment, trying to find my bearings again while I STAND (See previous Post) before the Lord.  When one is lost, the secret to finding your way again, is finding out where you are. Even Google’s Maps, or my GPS first has to clarify the “Current location” before I can go anywhere.  In all my life, whenever I have felt lost, I have found that God asks me to…

Identify where I am first.

In our spiritual lives we are on a spiritual journey, the end destination of which is the Kingdom of Heaven.  But in all our lives, there are times we will find ourselves spiritually lost.  This may be for any number of reasons: we have experienced great change; we made a mistake; we lost the path; someone interrupted our journey; we took a detour etc.  I actually believe that we as believers get lost often, even though we love the Lord, our sinful nature may cause us to stray from the path set out for us, or walk down paths not meant for our journey.

For the journey to continue there is a starting point: finding where we are now.

keepcalmaskyourselfWhile I am standing still before the Lord and being active not passive as I wait for Him, one of the things that I am working on is finding out where I am in relation to God.  In my quiet times, God has been asking questions, I have been asking questions of myself and I have asked people to ask me questions.  I have been asking and answering a lot of questions.

When God starts to do a restoring work in our lives, He first helps us locate ourselves.

God asks locating questions.  Questions that help us locate where we are in our spiritual journey, what our hearts are saying and how we are living.  These questions are important and we need to answer them before we can move forward into what God has in store for us.  When we finish a season of life, God always moves into the new season He has planned for us, by asking locating questions.

Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Here are some examples of locating questions from scripture:

  • Elijah, fled into the desert, after slaying all the priests, resting under a tree, God asks him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
  • Elijah is at the end of his life, he is about to be taken up.  He needs Elisha to continue the journey, so he asks Elisha a locating question: “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
  • Jonah who runs away from what the Lord has told him to do, is facing the sailors in the storm, and they ask him: What have you done?”
  • Moses is at the Burning Bush, God tells him: “Take off your sandals.  You are standing on holy ground.” Moses didn’t know that before, God shows him where he is, He is standing before God.
  • Paul, known as Saul, is on the road to Damascus, God asks him:”Saul, why do you persecute me”
  • Jesus asks the Samaritan women: “Will you give me a drink?”
  • When the risen Jesus goes out to meet the disciples after a night out fishing, he asks: “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
  • When Jesus stands before Simon Peter who betrayed him three times, he asks: “do you love me more than these?”change ahead

All locating questions come before changes in life direction or a new season in our life.  Each of the above examples led to the person being asked the question, changing the course of their lives to complete their life purpose.  Each had to identify where they were in relationship to God in order to discover their life purpose in God.

Do you know where you are?  Is God asking you questions about your life?

We need to understand exactly where we are before we can move on in our spiritual journey. Take the time to look around, to see where you are in your spiritual journey with the Lord.  One cannot live a life of purpose, if you don’t know where you are.

  • Spend some time writing what you think of your life, the good and the bad, what you wish for and what you know should change.  This exercise on its own will locate you for yourself.
  • Then spend time writing what you think God would say about your life right now, the good, the bad and what He is hoping to see.  This too will locate you in relationship to Him.
  • Ask you friends to ask you some challenging questions about your life
  • Pray about what you have written and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you cannot see.  He is like the GPS’s satellite system, He can see more than we can.  With the help of the Spirit, He will locate you and show you the direction to move into.
  • Sit before the Lord in prayer and ask yourself the question you sense God is asking you?
  • Do this more than once

I myself am answering locating questions at the moment.  I have a real sense of a new season opening in my life and a conviction to first be a little circumspect about my life.  I don’t want to move ahead without the Lord’s instruction and direction to my path.  So I am spending time in my secret place, answering locating questions.  Have you ever answered locating questions?  What happened?

Father help me to ask the questions that open up my heart for examination.  May questions come to me through people, my reading, scripture and events.  Spirit reveal to me what I need to see in my heart, in my life, in may interaction with others.  Help me to identify clearly the path that I am on, before I continue on the path of my future.  Ask me the questions that make me dig deeper into scripture, spend time in prayer, examine my life.  I declare that God has new things in the future planned for me and that although I am standing still at the moment, as I stand in His presence, He will show me where I am.

If you have enjoyed this post, also read:

Stand Firm

Three Changes to Make Before Change

Four Benefits of Being Circumspect

Anything Bothering You?