Note: This is part two of last week's memo, and it fits in perfectly with what we presented in ROCKET 2018 as well. In particular, it suggests a different way to think about goal setting. If you haven't yet signed up for ROCKET, it's a FREE 10-day course on how to discover and achieve your most important goals. Enrollment closes at the end of the month.

In last week's memo, I talked about The Three Types of Choices believers face and gave some tips on how to make the right decision in each type of choice. For the most important and most difficult choices, I suggested four keys to discerning the best option: a submitted will, Bible study, a consideration of providence, and earnest prayer. This framework gives a sure and proven method for correctly discerning the will of God when faced with tough choices.

But this week I'd like to suggest another tool you may find helpful. Another perspective, really. It is based on the idea that life is more about navigating a journey, than a series of individual right and wrong choices. And as such, what's needed are skills more related to orienteering.

Spiritual Orienteering
Many years ago I had the opportunity to learn a bit about orienteering. I was taught how to read a topographical map, which shows the contours of the hills and valleys around you, and then how to use a compass to chart a path through that terrain. Our group was broken up into teams, and each team was challenged to race the others in finding its way through a series of specified destinations. It was a great bunch of fun!

Basically, you use the map to locate your position, calculate the direction you need to go along with the approximate distance, and then use the compass to get you pointed the right way. To make it easier, you find some landmark in the general direction you want to go and head for that. Every so often you recheck your position, and direction, and sure enough--you will eventually get to where you are going.

Now in orienteering, there is no single right way to get to your destination. One path may end up being more or less difficult than another, but as long as both point roughly in the correct direction, either will get you to where you want to go. If there's dense underbrush in front of you, it is sometimes faster, to veer slightly to the left or right, and go around. If there's a large tree directly in your path, you pretty much have to veer around it on one side or the other. And it doesn't really matter much which side you take! As long as you self-correct every so often via your map and compass, and keep your eye on the goal--you will reach your destination.

Life, too, is not always about discerning an exact pattern of steps along some unique path. Sometimes it is more about staying focused on and making progress towards a goal. That is, we don't always need a formula for finding a single right answer, we need a compass to help us stay on track.

And to be frank, we need a compass we can refer to quickly and easily. Spending 10-15 minutes trying to decide the best possible choice at each zig or zag in the path will only slow us down. If our destination is clear, and either option can get us there, choose one path promptly and keep moving.

Here is how Ellen White described the importance of making decisions quickly:

It is more excusable to make a wrong decision sometimes than to be continually in a wavering position, to be hesitating, sometimes inclined in one direction, then in another. More perplexity and wretchedness result from thus hesitating and doubting than from sometimes moving too hastily.

To save wasted life energy and time we are to make a decision and run with it. This often disturbs the plan of Satan..

Delays, doubtings, hesitation, and indecision frequently give the enemy every advantage. Rapid movements at the critical moment often disarm the enemy, and he is disappointed and vanquished for he had expected time to lay plans and work by artifice.

Many difficult decisions are best approached through a framework of spiritual orienteering. That is, they are difficult because they are evenly balanced. If one option were clearly better than the other, the choice would be obvious. But because they are so similar in terms of pros and cons--either decision is likely to work. Agonizing excessively will just slow you down.

What you need is a good map and a quick compass. The map is God's Word, which we study in advance to generate a clear sense of mission and purpose. Then the compass is that inner sense of right and wrong we call the conscience. When faced with a tough choice, all we really need to do is prayerfully ask which option moves us most directly to the place we have already discerned we should be. We can choose quickly and act promptly.

Clear Direction
Of course, spiritual orienteering only works when we have a clear destination. Knowing where we should be heading, and having some intermediate landmark to press toward is essential. Trying to focus on multiple goals is like trying to keep a dozen ping pong balls under water. One or two balls is easy. Much more than that and it starts getting tricky!

I suspect Jesus was hinting at the simplicity of spiritual orienteering, and the importance of focus in His answer to the rich young ruler. He boiled the decision-making process down to two primary considerations. Here is the first part of His answer to the question "which is the great commandment in the law?"

Matthew 22:37-38
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.

Loving God should be our first and primary objective. Knowing that this is our ultimate destination means in any decision, we only need to figure out which option pleases Him most.

And the key to that, of course, is to spend time with Jesus. Both quality & quantity. Knowing Him is key to knowing what pleases Him. A moment of quiet reflection, listening for the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through our conscience is often all it takes to discern the real motivation driving our options: love for God, or something else.

If we make this the guiding rule throughout our life, and follow it closely--we may fall short of making every decision exactly right (Romans 3:23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;), but over time our life will become more and more a reflection of the will and character of God. Just as good orienteering is sure to get you to your destination, so chasing after God is sure to lead you into finding Him at last.

There's a second part to the answer of Jesus. A second rule of thumb to help guide our moral compass:

Matthew 22:39-40
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

While there are many good things we could do that are all pleasing to God, we've been given one overarching command that should drive our decision making in terms of which options are best. We call it the Great Commission. The assignment to go into all the world, and make disciples of every nation. All our decisions should be made in relation to this objective.

There's a lot that goes into the work of making disciples. Evangelism is certainly a part. So is the nurture and follow-up of new believers. There's also the training and instruction necessary to help believers grow into mature disciples. And ultimately equipping them with the tools and vision they need to become workers. But again, it boils down to a simple guide. We are to assess every option by how well it contributes to this mission.

Again, quoting from Ellen White,

The church, enfeebled and defective though it be, is the only object on earth on which Christ bestows His supreme regard. He is constantly watching it with solicitude, and is strengthening it by His Holy Spirit. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to "the principalities and powers in heavenly places," the final and full display of the love of God.... The church is God's fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world.... It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts. God's love for His church is infinite. His care over His heritage is unceasing.

Clearly, our yearning must be to strengthen and bless the people of God. To serve that which lies closest to His heart. That which God loves so wonderfully, so unceasingly. That which through whom He delights to reveal His power.

If our first rule of thumb is to love God with our entire being, then our second rule is to love that which is so precious to God: the church. We are to love our neighbor as our self. Do this faithfully, and our lives will gradually conform to the life of service and ministry God has in mind for each of us.

Conclusion
Life is filled with different types of choices, and different principles apply to discerning the will of God, depending on the type of choice it is. Submission of the will, Bible study, providence, and earnest prayer all have their place. But decision making is sometimes more about navigating through the twists and turns of life toward a clear objective or destination. What is needed are the basic skills of orienteering: a good map, and a quick compass. A compass hinged on the twin guiding principles of love for God, and love for man. Spiritual orienteering makes decision making simple: choosing that which most pleases God, and best serves His church in all that we do.

Do this consistently, and it will bring you to your destination at last!

Comments

What about you? Have you ever thought about life as a journey, and the choices you face a bit like orienteering? What lessons do you glean from today's reading?

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