Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Sometimes the pieces and parts of our lives seem so random, but what if they actually do fit together? What if those pieces are orchestrated components that, when taken together, give us insight into God’s path for our lives? What are those seemingly random pieces upon which we must focus? Calibrate Life is about aligning the pieces of our lives to gain movement into God’s desired future. There are at least seven pieces of our lives that may fit uniquely together to give us a clue or a certainty of the directions we are to take. In this episode of CalibrateLife, David and Donna talk about 7 pieces that often fit together to cause our unique path to clearly emerge.

Focus on These Seven Things to Discover Your Unique Path

Last week we talked about “Listen. Focus. Go.” When we talked about focusing on the paths and purposes we identified in our “listening”, we did not have time to really go into some “focal points.” What are the things that really hone and guide our focus, and thus, our directions.

We could connect this to the age old question, “how do I know the will of God (the direction of God) for my life?

Sometimes, in frustration, I’ve wondered what it would be like to just do what I wanted to do and not constantly be thinking about what God wants me to do. That’s not how I want to live my life.

Much could be said, and is said about how we determine God’s will for our lives, how we live in that will, how we pursue it, how we make adjustments to stay on track, etc. Today we want to connect our quest of living, leading, and loving within God’s plan with some simple, and practical focal points.

Focal points are a place of convergence. When you focus a camera, you have to pick something specific in the viewfinder upon which to focus. How do we know where to place our life and leadership focus? Here are some pieces that have to be clarified and aligned:

• PROVIDENCE. [9:06] What is God saying and obviously doing in our lives and surroundings?
• PASSIONS. [10:27] What are the things emerging in your heart and the passions of those you love and lead?
• PATTERNS. [13:56] Do you notice any patterns repeating in your life or organization that indicates either something to anchor in or something to change?
• PIECES. [15:43] Lay out all of the pieces of the things you’ve been hearing, thinking, and observing. Is there a connection? Do the pieces fit? Sometimes they seem unrelated, but when examined as a whole you begin to see divine connection. If not, eliminate the distractions.
• PAST. [17:18] What story does your historical redemptive journey tell? Can you see patterns and paths emerging from your history?
• PATH. [21:15] Can you see an obvious direction unfolding before you? This relates to the providence of God, but it is sometimes revealed in very practical ways.
• PLATFORM. [22:25] What platforms do you have? Platforms are opportunities. What opportunities present themselves? Pay particular attention to platforms sovereignly presenting themselves.

We cannot focus until we listen, but when a path emerges, we need to focus on the path and give as full ATTENTION, ATTRACTION, and ACTIVITY as is possible.

Calibration Tools… Calibrating Our Lives and Lifting Those we love and lead [23:47]

1. Get out your journal and take the time to evaluate what you examine in your life in each of these areas: providence, passions, patterns, pieces, pertinent events from your past, and the platforms you currently have.
2. Do you see an overall pattern emerging? Line it all out and look at the pieces and look for things that clearly emerge. Ask God to speak to you through what you are seeing. Do the pieces confirm your direction? Do the pieces suggest a direction you’ve not thought of.
3. When coaching those you love and lead, use this tool to help them think through the pieces of their lives and the patterns athat emerge that help them move forward in a more concrete way.
4. Do this with the organization you lead.

Finally…

Sometimes things are random in our lives and we need to discount random occurrences when they don’t fit, but my challenge to you is that the steps of a righteous person are ordered of God. Sometimes the things that seem random are actually pieces of a bigger picture.

Take the time, at least occasionally, to calibrate all of the pieces of your life. We’ve discovered that sometimes when line all the “random” pieces up, they form an incredible picture.