Recalculating…

Posted On September 5, 2021

“You are my God. Show me what you want me to do,
and let your gentle Spirit lead me in the right path.”

Psalm 143:10 CEV

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28 NIV

I recently went back to work teaching full-time after spending the last two years working part-time teaching online classes from home. I still teach online classes, but now I also have a 90-minute commute twice a week to teach face-to-face classes at the main campus of the college where I work. As I was making the drive this week, a few things occurred to me that I thought would be worth sharing . . .

First, I thought about the GPS on my phone. I set it to give me driving directions for the quickest route out of town since there are a few different ways to go. However, I wasn’t sure that I trusted what it was telling me. So one day I just ignored it and went my own way. As I defied its directions, the GPS faithfully recalculated the route to include the path I had chosen so that I would still arrive at the correct destination. In hindsight, I’m sure I added a couple of minutes to my driving time by not following the route the GPS gave me to begin with. But I was grateful that it was still able to direct me after I had chosen to disregard its instructions.

This reminds me of how God leads us. God’s got a big, beautiful, complex plan for our lives. Since He can see the big picture (and we can’t), He knows the best route we should take to get us where He wants us to go. But often we ignore His instructions and choose to go our own way. Thankfully, God doesn’t give up on us when we get off the path He wants us to follow. Working all things for good, He faithfully recalculates the route to include our stubborn choices and mistakes so that we will still arrive at the correct destination. Looking back, we will see that by not following Him to begin with, we made it a lot harder on ourselves and slowed down our progress. But we can be grateful that God is still willing and able to lead us. We just have to trust that He really does know what’s best for us and start following His directions.

“To walk by the Spirit is to be led by the Holy Spirit. We are to take our cues from Him. By sending the Holy Spirit to indwell us, God provided each of us with a personal guide, a moral compass — someone to show us the way.”

Charles F. Stanley, The Spirit-Filled Life

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

Another thing that I thought of this week as I was walking back to my office after class was how much I missed being in the classroom. It was nice to be back working with the students after sitting at home in front of a computer for the past two years. As I thought about the look of grateful relief I saw on a student’s face after I had spent some time going over her homework questions, I felt like I was back fulfilling my purpose, doing what I was called to do.

This may not seem like much of a revelation since I’ve been a math teacher for the past 28 years, but anyone who knows me well will tell you that I have been doubting this calling on my life for my entire career. When I was in college and people asked me what I planned to do with my math degree, I always answered, “I don’t know, but I’m NOT going to teach.” When I began teaching a couple of classes while I was in grad. school, I assumed it was just temporary. I thought, Someday I will figure out what I’m really supposed to be doing with my life. But years went by, and I never figured out what else I wanted to be.

This all came to a head a couple of years ago. I was burned out at work and overwhelmed by my life. My marriage was suffering and my kids needed me. So I thought it was time for a change. I cut back to teaching part-time and decided it was finally time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I got serious about my faith, hoping God would reveal His plan. I also started this blog. And I thought, This is it! This is what I’m supposed to be doing! So I decided I would read all my Christian books, work through all my creative writing books, and really focus on writing. I would also spend more time with my kids and grandkids and finally become a much better housekeeper. I had grand plans! But after a while, I realized that while I love writing, it was not going to pay the bills. And while I love being home with my family, I missed being out in the world. And much to my surprise, I realized I missed teaching. After all, I’m pretty good at it, and I spent years learning all this stuff, I should be using my math knowledge and skills to help others. I finally realized that God knew what He was doing all along when He led me to teaching.

Thankfully, He indulged me as a tried to go my own way. And I really did need a break to catch my breath and get my spiritual bearings. I am also extremely grateful He led me to start this blog. Writing it has been such a blessing to me. I love doing it, and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon! But what I realized as I was walking back from class that day, giving thanks that I was back “re-calculating” in the classroom, was that what I had been searching for wasn’t a new career. It was God’s presence in my life. Learning to stay connected Him and hear His voice made all the difference. I realized that my true calling and purpose is the same as yours: to be a child of God.

“The Holy Spirit is a leader. He is our guide. He is always with us. He is constantly tuned in to both our emotional states and our surrounding circumstances. He is always senstitive to both. He leads at the perfect pace. He always takes our weaknesses and strengths into consideration.”

Charles F. Stanley, The Spirit-Filled Life

“But we Christians have no veil over our faces;
we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord.
And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 TLB

Finally, I realized that another way God recalculates in our lives is by changing our hearts. The Christian books I have read on discovering God’s will all say the same thing: God’s main purpose is to make us more like Christ. Period. That’s the point of the Christian walk. So that’s what He focuses on in our lives. He want us to come to Him and let Him transform our hearts.

This doesn’t happen all at once. It’s a gradual process that occurs little by little as we spend time in His presence. He guides us one step at a time, gently making small adjustments to our thinking as we learn to trust and obey Him. Along the way, we discover His will for us in all the other aspects of our lives and we may see Him transform our circumstances as well. But it all starts with letting Him recalculate what’s going on inside of us. After 50 years of living and 28 years of teaching, I have finally figured this out: If you come to God and ask Him to transform your life, He will begin by transforming you.

“The sincerity of our repentance is demonstrated by how willing we are to take the steps necessary to nourish our souls and reprogram our minds from the Scriptures, so we can draw on Christ’s power to be righteous.”

Randy Alcorn, Seeing the Unseen

This week’s Scripture passages remind us to turn back to God when we get off His path for our lives. We must study the road map, His Word, and follow our personal guide, the Holy Spirit. Since He understands all the complexities of our lives much better than we do, we can trust His leading and instruction. As we come to Him and let Him recalculate our thought patterns, He will transform us and lead us into the big, beautiful, joy-filled life that awaits!

“Listen to my instruction and be wise. Don’t ignore it.”

Proverbs 8:33 NLT

References:

• Alcorn, Randy. Seeing the Unseen, Expanded Edition: A 90-Day Devotional to Set Your Mind on Eternity. Multnomah, 2017.
• Stanley, Charles F. The Spirit-Filled Life: Discover the Joy of Surrendering to the Holy Spirit. Nelson Books, 2014.

Images:

• Spiral Fractal featured image by David Zydd from Pixabay
• Map image by Garik Barseghyan from Pixabay
• Calculator image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
• Heart image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
• Formulas image by Elchinator from Pixabay