This year for Christmas, two of my friends and I went in on a group gift – one year of Hunt a Killer fun. Each month, we receive a box with clues to help us figure out who committed murder. The boxes are serial in nature, so for six months the storyline is continued from month-to-month, and then the second six months we will have a new storyline. We have done the first two boxes and we LOVE it. It is so much fun, especially for those of us who like procedural TV dramas like Criminal Minds, Elementary, Bones, Law and Order SVU, and more.
In each of the first two boxes, our task was to eliminate a suspect based on timelines and corroborating evidence. Using our very own murder board (a $2 bulletin board we got at the thrift store), we were able to correctly identify the two suspects, out of the nine possible, who are NOT responsible for murder.
Playing detective is fun, especially when you get to spend time with friends who are also focused on solving the same mystery you are.
Lately, I feel as if I am also playing detective in other areas of my life. Not to identify a murderer, but rather to identify the next steps in my journey. This kind of detective work isn’t nearly as fun.
Last week, I was certified ready to receive a call, which, in the Presbyterian Church USA means that I can begin looking for a place where I will be ordained and installed as a Minister of Word and Sacrament (fancy title for pastor).
A preliminary search on the denominational website lists well over 200 churches across the country which meet the criteria of my search. My initial reaction was (and kind of still is) one of being completely overwhelmed. How in the world am I supposed to read about these churches and know whether or not they would be a good fit for me and I for them? How do I even begin to find the “clues” that point me in the right direction? What criteria will I use to help me make the decision? How does this affect my family and what do I do when it comes to making sure they are part of the decision-making process?
Yesterday, as I read a chapter in Enter by the Gate, by Flora Slosson Wuellner, the very first sentence hit me right in the heart: “When the true Shepherd guides us, a gate will open before us, leading to a wider place.”
In this chapter, Wuellner talks about praying about a problem, placing it in God’s hands, and then alertly waiting to see what happens. She acknowledges that there are most definitely other guidelines to consider as we are making choices, but that paying special attention to little or big changes that occur after praying about a situation is often how we hear from God.
She tells a story later in the chapter that grabbed my attention as well:
“I stepped into a gambling casino once to make a phone call. the flashing strobe lights and the harsh music didn’t horrify me nearly as much as the fixed, intense gaze on the faces of the people working the machines. Like sleepwalkers, most of the them were closed off, deaf to any other interest, any other person. The casino had no windows. Customers could not see the sky, the trees, the clouds, or any natural light. They were narrowed down to one thing, the money machine in front of them. I still carry this inner picture, symbolic of all our addictive prisons of the spirit, which are any fixations that close us off to God’s world around us.”
Flora Slosson Wuellner, Enter by the Gate
Sometimes in crime dramas you see a particular police officer that is sure that a certain person is guilty, so sure that they cannot see that the evidence points elsewhere. Their focus is way too narrow and actually impedes the process of the investigation.
The thing is, having a world of opportunities ahead of me isn’t a bad thing because it opens my eyes to a bigger picture of the many ways that God could lead and helps me to see beyond the safe, easy options that could close me off to something amazing. I don’t want to impede the work of the Holy Spirit by having too narrow of a focus.
For that reason, I will continue to pray for God’s leading and guiding. After all, Jesus told us, “Ask and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” (Matthew 7:7)
“Loving guide, my true Shepherd, I give [this process] to your hand and heart. Show me the open gate. I know you hear me and that a way is opening for me. I give you thanks.”
Flora Slosson Wuellner, Enter by the Gate
Amen.
Are there choices or decisions that are looming for you? Do you feel like you don’t have the tools and information to make the “right” choice? Or are you so focused on what you want that you aren’t seeing other things that God has placed in your path? How about taking it to God in prayer today.
Feel free to comment or send me a message if you want to chat!
