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Surrenderd Pathway
Rick Warren says “You know you're surrendered to God when you
rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate
others, force your agenda, and control the situation”
In this resource Danielle reflects on an event that started as
a simple prayer exercise with some friends, but soon led to
some poignant reminders of a disciple’s surrendered life.
I went on an epic journey last week. It
was with a bunch of friends and warrior women and we went back
in time. Well, for many of them it was a first time look but
for me it was a memory tour. I went back and remembered all
that God had invited me to. I remembered some amazing stories
and some sad ones too. I remembered and met people I fell in
love with, who have helped shape me on my own journey while I
was with women I love, who are shaping me still.
We saw and did crazy beautiful things.
One of the things we did was a prayer labyrinth. It’s a huge
mapped out circle with a meandering path that winds and turns,
leading into the centre and then out again. It was
infuriating. I’m a functional person. I like to get things
done. And that path was design to SLOW PEOPLE DOWN. It’s
designed for reflection. It’s meant to help you clear your
mind. It was so frustrating. I was holding it together on the
outside but on the inside I was flipping out. It was a great
source of reflection in the end of course. I realized a bunch
of things through that exercise I’d like to share:
#1. Advance isn’t always obvious. As you wind around
these tight corners you kind of snake your way forward. It
actually feels like you are going backwards sometimes. You
literally turn around and walk back past where you just were.
Except, you aren’t still there. You are following a line that
is progressing forward. So, even though you feel like you are
repeating and going over the same space – you are not. Can you
see where this is headed? That is called progress. But it
isn’t always obvious. Sometimes progress is so slow and so
windy that it feels like it’s not progress at all. But every
time I started getting frustrated I would look down at my
feet. I would realize that I was further along the path than I
was the last time I was here. And it got me thinking. What if
I did that more in my everyday life? What if I took the time
to look down at where I’m standing and even though it feels
like I’ve been here a hundred times before I recognized that
it’s not the same place? What if the place I’m standing, seems
familiar, but is actually farther down the path? It would
inevitably lead me closer to the centre.
#2. Shortcuts are cheating. I really wanted to skip
some of the path. I wanted to jump the lines. It frustrated me
to stay on the trail. One of my friends did. She went into a
frenzy of activity trying to get to the centre as fast as she
could and ended up at the start again! It was really funny.
And it’s also really true. I feel like our spirituality has a
rhythm and when we mess with it – when we try to speed the
lessons up and skip ahead because we don’t like God’s timing
or the long-suffering required for some deeper lessons, we
actually don’t end up closer to the centre – we end up at the
beginning. “Let’s try this again” I can hear the spirit
saying. Needless to say we all laughed until we almost cried –
which is what I do in real life to. How many lessons will we
have to re-learn because we want to skip them altogether?
#3. it takes time. I keep learning this. I’m sure you
do to. We live in an instantaneous world. If my email takes
longer than ten seconds to load I open another browser window.
I’m not kidding. I can’t take slow. And that’s a spiritual
problem. Because it takes time to get to the place where we
are ready to connect with God. It takes some time to empty
ourselves of ourselves. It takes time to listen, to pray, to
hear, to learn, to try. It all takes time. And it’s worth the
time too. Time is the most valuable commodity we have. I need
to learn to waste it on God. It’s His after all. I need to
allow myself to take the time to experience God.
So, the long and winding road of prayer is frustrating and
rewarding. Those things go together a lot if you think about
it. Let’s just say, it bothered me in all the right ways! It
reminded me that we are all on a journey, all the time, with a
lot of amazing people. I’m trying to pay more attention – not
to just ‘get somewhere’ but to enjoy the path there.
Questions
1.
Where are you experiencing frustration in your walk with
Jesus?
2.
Would you use the word “progress” with regard to your
spiritual life? If so when and why?
3.
What disciplines help you to not take spiritual “short-cuts?”
4.
When was the last time you “wasted” time in prayer?
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