Thrive in the City by Living Into the Great StorySample

Finding Your Bearings 

Human beings have always looked up for direction.

Celestial navigators used the stars to calculate their position in open waters. Before there were proper calendars, farmers used the stars to determine when to sow and to harvest. In the same way, God is our True North as we navigate this life.

“God is the map whereby we locate the setting of our life. That God is the water in which we launch our life raft. That God is the real thing from which and toward which we receive our being and identify ourselves. It follows that the kind of God at work in your life will determine the shape and quality and risk at the center of your existence. It matters who God is.” ~Walter Bruggeman

If you don't know where you are, or more importantly who you are, making decisions and planning for the future can be excruciating. This Bible plan aims to help you find your bearings so you can chart your course with confidence and clarity. Starting with God's story, you will begin the process of integrating your story with God's story, and then shift to a vision for how to practice the ways of Jesus where you work and live.

​Many 20-somethings enter the marketplace disoriented, isolated, and with little vocational clarity. It’s like going from the greenhouse to the wild field. The greenhouse represents whatever structure you have left. The wild field represents the city marketplace you are now navigating.

What’s true of the greenhouse?

• Warm & safe (externals more controlled);
• Structured for maximum growth;
• Predictable customized environment designed to serve your needs;
• Cultivators (mentors) present;
• Limited possibilities;
• Hard to get lost;
• Shared resources;
• More static.

What’s true of the wild field?

• Exposed & vulnerable to the elements;
• Unstructured but still growing;
• Unpredictable diverse environment that may be indifferent to your needs;
• Cultivators (mentors) to be found;
• Limitless possibilities;
• Easier to become lost & disoriented;
• Competition for resources;
• Always changing.

Transitions can often lead to spiritual drift and deconstruction of faith, or they can lead to reconstructing our faith, which can become defining moments for God to move powerfully in your life for the benefit of others. 

In Luke 22 we find Peter, a man experiencing tremendous disorientation, as his expectations of what Jesus would do and become are shattered as he watches his beloved Rabbi, the Son of God, arrested and murdered. Peter drifts by denying he even knows Jesus and then returns to the life he had before meeting Jesus, unsure how to move forward. 

In John 21, the resurrected Jesus appears to Peter on the shore, removes the shame of his failure and reminds him of his life mission, to follow him. Peter’s defining moment occurs in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit comes upon him and he addresses the crowds resulting in thousands deciding to follow Jesus.

Jesus extends the same invitation to you as he did to Peter: to live into His great story by following him. What this looks like will be as different and diverse as the world we live in because we each have something unique to contribute for the life of the world.

Take a moment with God

Where do you find yourself today? 

Greenhouse? Wild field? Drifting? Following? Deconstructing? Reconstructing? Defining moment?

Invite Jesus to reveal Himself to you over the next 10 days.