Connecting to God more deeply during seasons of suffering

 

Welcome to the His Call Your Coordinates series! 2020 has definitely been a challenging year, hasn’t it? Many of you feel lost right now. You wonder where God is or what your purpose is now that our world looks so wildly different. I can relate!

But our God is always with us. No pandemic can thwart His purpose for our lives. God is placing us at certain sets of coordinates to carry out His call even though our world feels a little wonky right now! Our theme verse, then, for this series comes from Acts 17:26-27b:

From one man, he [God] made every nation of mankind to live over the entire face of the earth. He determined the appointed time and the boundaries where they would live. He did this so they would seek God and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

I pray these words become more precious to you as we meet together throughout this series. It captures two truths that are vital for us to acknowledge whenever we feel lost or purposeless:

1) God has appointed us to live in a very specific time and place, so we are never truly lost.

2) God is never far from us, so we are never truly alone. 

I also pray that taking a fresh look at Paul’s missionary travels throughout the book of Acts along with various interviews I’ve had with some of my fellow author friends, help you have a light bulb moment; enabling you to live out God’s call in your life right from your own coordinates. For God is never far from you! Instead of holding onto the past and continually lamenting what could have been, let’s look to God and where He’s placed us for what we can be doing now.

So let’s get started, shall we? We’re off to look at what happened to Paul as he traveled to various coordinates such Cuada and Malta. For this week’s adventure, we’ll meet up with my friend and fellow traveler, Elizabeth Laing Thompson. I do hope you’ll unpack, sit for a spell, and listen to our recorded interview at the bottom of the page for further inspiration and encouragement before you leave. Enjoy the rest of your travel itinerary, which is also listed below for you to reference and thank you for spending part of your day with us!

 

His Call:

To faithfully testify in the middle of the test, so that others can find Him and be at rest.

Walking out our faith is no easy task. When I was a newer Christian, I thought the rest of my life was going to be smooth sailing since I had given Jesus the proverbial wheel, allowing Him to steer me whichever way He deemed best.

Jesus also wired met to be Type-A.

Guess how long it took before I wanted to grab the wheel back from Him? I do not remember Jesus and I conferring about and agreeing upon the various heartaches I was experiencing either! 

What I have learned about our Savior is this: Jesus is not interested in making us comfortable. He is passionate about conforming us into the daughter He’s designed us to be, so that others notice and become uncomfortable; seeing their need for His love and saving work in their own lives, too.

It's the crucible moments, not the comfortable ones, that change us. Click To Tweet

It’s the crucible moments, not the comfortable ones, that change us. Through them we learn how to carry our own cross so that we can point others to the cross that Jesus hung upon for the world that His Father, God, loves immeasurably (Matthew 16:24-26; John 3:16).

COVID-19 and what it helps us proclaim

The current pandemic has caused an incalculable amount of suffering that none of us planned for. Since March, I have wanted to grab the steering wheel again numerous times since things continue to change, and comfort continues to escape my own heart and the hearts of those I love. God is with us in this season of trial. He remains in complete control of the steering wheel. 

God is calling us to testify to the comfort and strength we have found in Him, so that others do not have to walk through the rest of this year or any that follow without Him. It’s time to proclaim what this season in shut down has taught you.

It's time to proclaim what this season in shut down has taught you. Click To Tweet

I am not saying we stuff or cover up our own pain. But we can keep clinging to the One who has seen us through difficult seasons before, allowing Him to take our pain and replace it with His peace and purpose so that those in our coordinates will find the rest and hope they’ve been seeking for in Him.

 

Your Coordinates:

Near Cuada (34°50′N 24°05′E) and eventually Malta (35°55’N 14°24’E)

The Book of Acts makes one thing clear about the missionary travels of Paul: they were not easy. Even from a casual read through of Acts 21-27, we learn that Paul was arrested, questioned by various men, was beaten, and was involved in a shipwreck as he followed God’s call. I am sure there were many times that Paul wanted to grab the figurative wheel from God’s grip, but he didn’t pack up and go back home! 

Paul kept going and at one point in his travels, his ship was driven off course somewhere near Cauda (the modern-day Greek island of Gavdos). As they sailed on, Paul testified about God’s promise to deliver and protect those on the ship. He thanked God for His protection and provision in the middle of the chaos and in front of his shipmates, even though they had gone without food for two days and even as they had no clue if they were going to risk running aground and wrecking their ship (Acts chapter 27).

In the end, not only did Paul and his shipmates survive the storm, but while at the coordinates known as Malta (where they ended up), onlookers watched as Paul both survived a deadly snake bite and healed a local man’s father. Paul testified in the middle of the test, and in the months to come, those on the island of Malta came to find the rest and hope their souls were searching for in the God who had called Paul to their coordinates.

From an empty house to a room full of stinky teenagers

Although my author friend, Elizabeth Laing Thompson has never been bitten by a snake or found herself in the middle of a horrific storm at sea, she has weathered many seasons of suffering resulting from leaving a home she loved to move to a place she didn’t plan on moving to, to experiencing a miscarriage, and from walking through a season of financial hardship. Through these seasons, Elizabeth learned to depend on God in a more intimate way.

Like Paul, she is now testifying about the various calls God has given her at the various coordinates He’s placed her whether it be to the teenagers who come to her house for Bible study or through the words on the printed pages of her book, When God Says Go.

Before you go, I encourage you to listen to our interview at the end of this post, for I know you will be encouraged as you listen to her story. As Elizabeth points out, God’s call may not mean for us to physically move from the physical coordinates He’s placed us post pandemic. Instead, it could mean that God desires for us to get moving spiritually instead so that we can connect with Him deeply in our current season of suffering. 

Like Elizabeth, don’t be surprised if you find yourself surrounded by fellow shipmates one day who are in need of hearing about what you have learned about the goodness or provision of your God. Testify in the middle of the test so that healing in a spiritual sense can happen in the lives of those living at the coordinates where God has placed you.

“God may mean for us to stay put, but to get going spiritually.”

~Elizabeth Laing Thompson

Guest Bio:

Elizabeth Laing Thompson is the author of All the Feels (releasing 9-8-2020), When God Says, “Wait” and When God Says, “Go.” She writes at Lizzylife.com about clinging to Christ through the chaos of daily life. As a minister, speaker, and novelist, she loves finding humor in holiness and hope in heartache. Elizabeth lives in North Carolina with her preacher husband and four spunky kids. They were totally worth the wait and now they keep her on the go!

 

Additional activities for your travel itinerary:

Say “hi” in the comments below and answer one of the following questions to be entered into the “Travel From Home” Giveaway!!! One commenter will be chosen from the six blog posts in the series, and the winner will be announced on July 30th! 

• What is one thing you wish everyone in your current coordinates knew about God?
• If you could sail and vacation on any island which one would it be and why?
• Who can you love by helping them to see that God has never left them? What evidence in their life or in yours proves this? How can you specifically share this with them this week?

Lastly, here is a link to a freebie that you can click on and print off for fun! I hope this prayer for your coordinates is a blessing to your heart and to your home:

Tracy Steel: His Call, Your Coordinates PDF