Where Do We Go From Here?

Ever felt lost?  

Have you ever felt confused about where you need to be or where you need to go?

I walk into a store and, forgetting my list at home, feel aimless in figuring out my purpose and what I am supposed to be bringing home. What I end up with is bags of food and produce that don’t match and a call to the nearest pizza place that night.  

I open up my cell phone and forget what I was going to look up or who I was going to call.  I end up doom-scrolling or playing a game of Sudoku, wasting away minutes, even hours of productive time.  

I sit down to talk with someone about something really important and we end up talking about weather or the latest hockey game. Resolution never is reached or impact in life change is never experienced.

For you, these examples may be trivial or they are daily life.  It may be that your lostness, the confusion you feel is far deeper.  

I will let you in on a little secret that was never meant to be a secret.  It’s the answer to the question where do we go from here…are you leaning in?

The answer is: follow.  Follow after Jesus and the story he is writing for you.

In Mark 1:16-20 Jesus calls the first 4 of what would become 12 disciples. 

And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”  And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

They saw the experience of following after Jesus as the opportunity of a lifetime and ran to the story that God was writing for them.  There was no question or concern in their response, just an obedience to Jesus.

What they understood that we often miss, even in their naivety, is that the story we live in isn’t our own and we are not its author.  It’s God’s story.  I know, it’s not what the culture says and its certainly not what mainstream socials would have you believing.  But the truth is, its about him not us.  

When we are lost, missing the mark and confused, it often means that we have stepped out of the story that is being written and have decided to live in the margin, the openness that feels like freedom.  But that openness isn’t freedom, its emptiness and it’s lonely there.  

Step back into the story written for you by him.  Reach out, grasp the hand that can hold you fast and firmly in the storms of life and listen to the voice that brought the stars into being.  

Live in the certainty of a call to a life lived with Jesus.  When confusion plagues you, when uncertainty finds its way into your mind and heart, stop.  Stop and respond with simple assurance, “I am a child of God, walking in his light and on his path”.  Rest and silently wait (Psalm 46:10) for him to help you find your next steps.   

This is what it means to be bonded to Jesus.  To be in the very presence of him who guides and leads and prepares the way for our salvation.  Even as a new born baby he brought all around him in earnest silence and waiting, to look to the heavens and express glory to God.  He shared what this feels like, what this experience is like in John 15.  He is the vine and we are the branches. 

Living in this certainty, bonded to him. This is the place where confusion has no place and the feelings of lostness dissipate.  

Where do we go from here?  Into the outstretched arms of our Abba.  Following after Jesus.  All in the power of the Holy Spirit.  

Where do we go from here?  Follow.  He will guide.  

I’m praying for you today and every day, that you will find your way to him, with him.  That you would follow.  Grace and Peace fellow ragamuffins.