Last Saturday, I got motivated. (Scary thought, I know.) I woke up around 6:30am, ate my breakfast, had quiet time with the Lord, strapped on my tennis shoes and loaded up the pup in the car. We were going on an adventure.
Ok, so it wasn’t exactly an adventure that was so epic that it would appear on Discovery Channel or Animal Planet. But my little dog Sweet Justus and I decided to switch up our daily workout a bit and hit up the Riverwalk… And attempt break a record for distance/time. We were going “wogging” or “jalking.” (My combo form of walk-jogging hiking intervals.)
We accomplished this great sweaty feat, and were on mile 7 of 8 heading back to the car, when I saw a sign that made me have one of my wogging epiphanies. (Sidenote: People worry about my little dog, thinking that he gets worn out easy. But in all honesty, he is a scrappy little one. After 8.1 miles, he hopped in the car, stretched, yawned and looked at me as if to say “Ok, Mama, that was fun. Now what?” Pretty sure he is part gazelle or something.)
Anywho… I had an epiphany. I seem to have some of my best insights/ideas after a crazy workout. I don’t know if it is because the oxygen is finally flowing back to my brain and my mind is sharper than normal, or if my body/mind is so smoked from the workout that it shuts up long enough to receive those words from God. I saw the following sign:
Take note of the “arrows.” They were different than normal, well defined “fancy” arrows. Instead they were simply blocks that had the corners shaved off to make a square into a triangle/pointer/arrow. What a difference those two removed corners makes! It goes from a block of stillness like a bullet point to something that had direction. I have always heard cutting corners wasn’t the best idea… But in this case, it was VERY productive.
While the sign with “cut corner” blocks provided direction to the Riverwalk and Infantry Museum, I began to wonder: How do we, in life, go from being stationary blocks to triangular arrows having direction and going places in our lives? And, as with everything else in life, the answer lies within Christ.
We have to ask and seek Him. Ironically (Divinely?) I had planned to blog about my “block vs. arrow” thought last Saturday and it was “marinating” this week… Then my boss and dear friend Kelli Wommack posted on her blog this Wednesday about how to discover your purpose/direction in life… Her answer: SEEK HIM!
I got to thinking. (Scary thought #2) When in my life have I sought His direction? I had to get honest with myself and realized it was a pre-determined transition for God to change me from a BLOCK to a corner-cut arrow of direction. As you might have noted from my testimonies last week, the times in life that I was relying on my own strength were kind of an epic fail. HOWEVER, with each experience, God was slicing off a little bit more of my corners, making me more defined by Him, which has provided purpose and fulfillment.
“Barricade the road that goes Nowhere; grace me with your clear revelation. I choose the true road to Somewhere, I post your road signs at every curve and corner. I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me; God, don’t let me down! I’ll run the course you lay out for me if you’ll just show me how.” Psalm 119:28-30
Personally, I don’t really want God to use that Charlie Brown quote “You Blockhead!” due to my unwillingness to let him cut my corners to form me into an arrow. (Of course, God is way more tactful than Lucy from Charlie Brown and points out my resistance much more lovingly.)
Are you a stationary block resistant to Him or are you letting God cut your corners to shape you into a triangular arrow with direction? Find your purpose. Seek Him. Go on an adventure with Him. He will do the rest, one cut corner at a time!
Wogging under His direction,
SGK
“What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every God-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him makes it.” –Psalm 18:30 (MSG)
