By Greg Primm
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about our recent trip to Disney World in Orlando. We had a blast, but those of you who have taken the journey can attest that it’s almost impossible to see everything. We depended heavily on the park map to guide us through the sites. You know the kind. Cartoonish renderings of the park’s attractions, the maps are almost impossible to read. You do your best to make sense of them, but I always get lost. Conversations similar to the following occurred numerous times:
“Oh, I see — to get to the Star Wars ride, you go past the big sorcerer’s hat, past the Drew Carey theater, do we take a right or a left? Turn the map around so I can see it better. Ok, its a right turn. But don’t go too far or we’ll end up in the middle of the Indiana Jones show. Wait, what happened to the kids?”
The thing about a map is that you have to know two things — where you are and where you want to go. If you are missing either piece of information, you have a problem. That’s why I prefer the big maps you see in shopping malls. They always have the big red arrow with the comforting words, “you are here”. Whew!! At least there’s one piece of information I don’t have to figure out.
Sometimes I wish I had a life map to tell me how to get from where I am now to where I need to go. ”Here’s where you are now. This is the path to take. Don’t take wrong turns here or here, watch out for the difficult spots, here and there.” A map gives you the bearings you need to make good decisions. Even if you get off track, you can still make small adjustments along the way to continue moving toward your end goal.
John Eldredge wrote about the subject in his book Epic:
This is the Big Picture. This is where you are in that picture. Hopefully you now know where to go. You have your bearings.
Oh, that we had something like this for our lives.
“This is the Story in which you have found yourself. Here is how it got started. Here is where it went wrong. Here is what will happen next. Now this—this is the role you’ve been given. If you want to fulfill your destiny, this is what you must do. These are your cues. And here is how things are going to turn out in the end.”
We can.
We can discover the Story. Maybe not with perfect clarity, maybe not in the detail that you would like, but in greater clarity than most of us now have, and that would be worth the price of admission. I mean, to have some clarity would be gold right now. Wouldn’t it? (Epic, 10-11)
So, how do we get the clarity so many of us desire? How do we figure out how to get from where we are now to where we want to be?
I wish I had the quick answer, the 30 second soundbite. The truth is, I’m still seeking it myself. One thing I do know — during our trip to Disney we enjoyed the entire trip, even the times we ditched the map and just figured it out as we went along. Sometimes we scrapped the itinerary for a while, relaxed the schedule and just enjoyed the day. Don’t get me wrong. We got lost. A lot. Most of the time, however, we ended up making it to all the places we wanted to see. Less pressure, no stress. Just enjoyed the ride.
My advice? Seek out your path through all the means you can. But don’t let it consume you. Enjoy the ride. Life’s not about the destination but about the ride. Cliche, I know. Eldredge says it best, “Life is not a problem to be solved, it is an adventure to be lived.”
You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it. (Ephesians 5:10 – The Message)
