Life mapping: seeing God's Hand through the journey of Life

Pastor Hans Voortman

It's hard to keep perspective in the Christian life. We see everything through the blinkers of 'here and now', rarely seeing things from God's long-term perspective. We don't see the big picture. In our busy lives it's hard enough to have a sense of bearing for the day or week ahead, let alone seeing our lives in the span of years. Yet God seems to work in the longer time-frame.

Whether it is forty years as with Moses, or the thirty years that prepared Jesus for His ministry, God seems to have a plan for our lifetime that is often difficult for us to pick up on in the short-term. Like a tree growing, we know it's happening but often, it can only be observed after many years.

Gaining Perspective

Our lifestyles today seem to work against gaining perspective. The 'fast lane' lives of so many, with so little time for reflection, means that we head into tomorrow at a frantic pace, with no sense of poise or balance. With scant regard for our past, we similarly plunge headlong into the unknown of tomorrow with little awareness of what God might be orchestrating for our lives.

Yet I believe there is a big picture to everyone's life. The Scriptures urge us to consider a God who ". works in (us) to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Php. 2:13). The Bible declares that God knew us in our mother's womb. In fact the apostle Paul went so far as to say He chose us before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). The prophet Jeremiah records the Lord's words: ""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" (Jer 29:11). Fundamental to the Christian life is the notion of destiny - that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives - that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). In that sense, nothing happens by chance, but rather, there is a perspective to our lives that we need to get from God. We need to learn to see the bigger perspective, rather than the finiteness of our own small-mindedness.

Last year, I had a horrendous trip back from Papua New Guinea via Irian Jaya. My flight home involved nine stop-overs and took over thirty hours. What a milk run! Yet, I couldn't help reflecting that some hundred years ago, the trip would have probably taken months! That's what the journey of life is like. We might think we can race helter skelter through life, but the reality is that the real issues of life still take a lifetime to complete. Some things just can't be accelerated by technology.

Try as we might, none of us can hasten spiritual maturity. It takes time. It takes the parade of years through many of life's events to mould us into what we are. And the journey is just as long for us as it was for first century Christians. The challenges of life, the human responses, the ups and downs, still happen today as much as they did then. The script may be somewhat different, yet the storyline is still essentially the same - "he who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Php. 1:6). He's fashioning and moulding us ". with ever-increasing glory" (2 Cor. 3:18). He is outworking our destiny, but often we're too blind to see it.

Maintaining poise

I have found it a critical thing as I have matured in the Lord to recognise what God may be shaping in my life. When I try to get His perspective, I am less inclined to drift - I "keep in step with the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25) more easily. I walk with assurance through life knowing that He will never leave me nor forsake me (Heb. 13:5). I don't get hijacked as readily by my own emotional state nor do I succumb to the agenda others may have for my life. Rather, with an unhurried purposefulness, I go through life more relaxed and self-assured. Deep down I'm at peace, for I know God is still in control and all things are working for my good.

Joseph had this poise. Through all the highs and lows of his life, in and out of dungeons, he rested in the fact that God's purposes would prevail (Gen 38-40). And so did Daniel. His calm before the lions was not won as he stood there but came from years of trusting God, seeing Him come through for him. In the lions' den he was simply outliving a lifestyle he'd already taken on board. Simply, as we look at these people who rested in an understanding of destiny, whether in good times or bad, whether with little or much, we can see that they'd discovered the secret of being content: it was to rest in a God who was in control (Php. 4:11). Solomon understood this when he wrote "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" (Prov. 19:21).

The Journey of Life.

As we head through life, it's good to reflect on God's steering hand on us. Bob Clinton, a scholar of Fuller Seminary in the USA, has made a life-study of leadership principles gleaned from the lives of hundreds of leaders, both biblical and contemporary. In his book, The Making Of A Leader , he has identified five critical stages in the development of people over a lifetime. Identifying and observing these has helped countless people to see the hand of God at work in their lives, particularly in difficult times. How many of us, after numbers of years as Christians, can identify with the question, "Which way Next?"? Others have found themselves sidetracked by Satan into arenas of unfruitfulness. They have had no focus, having lost sight of their unique giftedness and calling. Or yet again, take the frustrated housewife who feels she's nobody, always living in the shadows of others. No-one has ever helped her to see the specialness of her life and the capacity she has to minister with effectiveness in areas nobody else can. Such scenarios, of course, are endless.

So many of us struggle in life to feel fulfilled or that we have a life of purpose, because we've failed to see the longer view of our lives. We can't see God's hand at work shaping and moulding us. We've lost the sense of inner peace that comes from just being - of relaxing in the truth that God is shaping our lives. The Psalmist knew this when he said, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust"" (Psalm 91:1-2). The sense of destiny grows in our lives in learning to trust our God who is steering us throughout the journey of life. King David so lived with this assurance that he could further declare: "But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands ." (Psalm 31:14-15).

Life Mapping

The five stages Bob Clinton identified have become part of what he has called "Leadership Emergence Theory". In a wider context, these principles apply to ". all that the Lord has called" (Acts 2:39). Let me identify them briefly for you.

1. Sovereign Foundations

These are the roots of a person. The way God has been providentially working through a person's family-life influencing things such as the timing of one's birth, generational influences of faith, etc. It's acknowledging the influences we have had no control over, but which begin shaping us, even genetically, from before our birth and in the early years of our lives.

2. Inner Life Growth

This involves identifying the unique steps God had taken to reveal himself to us. It's about coming to know God in a more personal and real way, identifying the things, events and people that have brought us to a personal faith.

3. Spiritual Maturity

This is the stage of life during which we begin to identify ways of understanding our place and purpose in the body of Christ. This often comes through initial steps of serving God, then finding a place of ministry expression in which God is moulding and shaping not only our competence, but also us as people. This is often the longest stage in our "life map".

4. Life Maturing

In this maturing stage we often gain a 'settled' sense to our lives - our niche or clearer place of 'being' becomes obvious. No longer is the focus on skills but increasingly, God is shaping character. This comes through carrying greater responsibilities, taking on leadership roles and often, by going through tough times. Family crises, personal testings, health challenges, etc, all become part of what may be perceived as negative preparation. However nothing matures us like adversity. In this stage we are often challenged concerning our resolve, motivations and integrity of heart.

5. Convergence and Afterglow

These could be separated as two merging stages, the first being a time of synthesis where we sense things coming together. We become aware of our raison d'etre - our reason for being. We see our special place of significance. There is a confidence of rest in this stage of life. We no longer have to prove ourselves: rather, the challenge is to invest into others. The second of these two stages is that of afterglow - a reflective stage where we as 'parents' in the faith impart principles of life gleaned from a lifetime of experiences.

Boundaries

This process of life mapping can often be identified by key events and people that come as 'boundary markers' in our lives. For instance, I can identify my move to Melbourne to take up a youth pastorship as a significant point where my life shifted from "Innerlife Growth" to "Ministry Maturing". I look back on my family roots, a miraculous survival of a premature birth, parents who came into 'revival' when I was a young boy, and I can see "Sovereign Foundations". Things I had little control over, but they've influenced my destiny.

I see myself in a "Life Maturing" stage now. Character has been moulded as I've faced crises in personal family life and ministry areas. So God continues to shape and mould us to His ultimate intention for our lives with processes as unique and varied as our life stories are.

As I reflect on my life thus far, I can also identify some six or eight key people that God has brought into my life at strategic points. As models and mile posts in life they have shown me the way. I think of my father - a most godly man whom, in some ways, I've learnt to value more since his death than when he was alive. I took his wisdom so much for granted! My spiritual mentor, Leo Harris, was more than just my pastor, he was a father in the faith. Barry Chant, also one of my pastors, is a man who still inspires me to be creative and to strive for the balance of soul and spirit in our Pentecostal/Charismatic experience. Winkie Pratney has revisited my life at critical stages challenging me toward radical discipleship. I think of my good friend Rob Gallagher, an occasional writer for this magazine and currently a PhD student at Fuller Seminary. As a friend, he has stimulated and challenged me on issues of personal spirituality as only a 'soulmate' set up by God can! And there is a parade of others that have left their 'God-stamp' on my life - church friends, colleagues and most of all, the indelible influence of my number one partner in life, my wife Fiona, and our four wonderful sons.

Everyone of these influences has made me who I am thus far and in the adventure of life, "it ain't over yet!" I look forward with excitement and wonder at what God has in store for me. There is a profound sense of awe at His loving hand that shapes and orders my life. I've grown to see that nothing happens by chance. We have a fantastic heavenly Father who is orchestrating our lives, not in a manipulative, coercive way, but with His gentle, yet sometimes firm, hand of guidance. He steers us toward a destiny that is uniquely ours, a product of the divine will and human response coming together in a wondrous synergy of purpose.

Perhaps you could review your own life. Consider the highs and lows of your life, and the people and events that have shaped you thus far. Try then to identify the developmental stages in your life and begin to develop perspective - start to see the big picture and remember you can "be confident that He who has begun a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil 1:6).

Each person is as unique and individualistic as God's plan for their life.

God spoke to Esther, calling her out of one way of living into a whole new destiny. As she observed God in her life, the profound sense that she was "born for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14) became clear. So too, God works uniquely in your life. Take the blinkers off! See the big picture. Trust afresh in a God who knows the end from the beginning. Learn to appreciate the gift of your special life. Gain a heavenly perspective on your earthly existence. Learn to celebrate the journey of life!

"Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4).

 

References:

• Dr J. Robert Clinton, Navpress, Colorado, 1988