Standing in the kitchen of my home with Johna Bryant one summer day several years ago, an interesting conversation arose as we discussed how our personalities determine how we approach things. We laughed about how ingrained it is for me to take a linear, step-by-step tactic to life while Johna leans towards a non-linear method, allowing her creative and imaginative side to come alive. This conversation came to mind as I was reading Brenning Liebscher’s book Rooted and he shares, “Many times we don’t even know we are trying to skip steps in God’s process because we justify it to ourselves. We think we have a good reason for putting the steps in an order that makes sense to us.”

For a linear thinker, being Out of Order is challenging, for we “need a really good reason to skip” any steps. Liebscher’s example of making macaroni and cheese is an excellent visual describing the theme of mine and Johna’s conversation. When Liebscher makes mac and cheese, he follows the directions on the box, his wife follows her own order. “In my mind, there is a God-ordained way to make macaroni and cheese, and it is printed on the box…But through the years I’ve discovered something: God thinks a lot more like SeaJay [and Johna] when it comes to building roots in our lives. Root systems do not grow in linear, straight lines. And this drives me crazy.”

I feel Liebscher’s pain because when life gets Out of Order, it throws me Out of Sync. “When I’m at A, I think I know exactly what the plan looks like from there on out. I know it’s supposed to be A, B, C, D, E and F, and so on. When it turns out to be A, D, V, B, A, I feel justified in protesting and trying to skip or rearrange the steps. For many Emerging Adults and me, the expectation is that life will not happen Out of Order; it’s typically graduation, career, marriage, kids, grandkids, retirement, etc. When these steps do not occur in the anticipated order, it can feel as if we are Missing Milestones, but this is a cultural perspective of life, not a biblical one. Instead, “What happens is you’ll get to the end of your life or you’ll get where you’re going, and you’ll turn around and say, ‘Oh, that’s how the Lord got me here.’”

Learning to Surrender our plans and to allow God to order the process can make us linear thinkers fearful, but Liebscher reminds us, “We’re all going to have opportunities to skip or rearrange the steps we see ahead of us.” Using the story of David and Saul from 1 Samuel 26, we are reminded of David’s faithfulness to not skip any steps, or at least to follow the ones God lays out for us rather than our own. “David was committed to letting God fulfill His promise according to His plan and time line, and even when opportunities arose, he would not bypass the steps God laid out for him.” He needed to spend more time being rooted and preparing for his God-given purpose later in life.

For us linear thinkers, Johna’s route through intercollegiate athletics into Streets Ministries may seem to have occurred Out of Order, but God’s perfect plan included using that time in college to prepare Johna for His purpose. Sometimes it’s arduous to see what God is doing in the present moment, we don’t know if we are being Buried or Planted, but cultivating Everyday Faithfulness to where He has called us in this season at this particular time is vital to living a life of meaning and purpose, which is ultimately what it takes to lead a flourishing life.

In Psalm 119:133, we are reminded to allow God to order our steps, sometimes those steps will be along a linear path and at other times, they will appear Out of Order; however, I have Holy Confidence that if you, and I, will bend our will to His, He is faithful to direct us onto the right path. And when we meander off that path, He can carefully guide us back to His purposes for our life.

Have you experienced a time when things seemed Out of Order but ultimately God’s reasoning became clear? Would you consider sharing that moment in the comments below?

Reference:

Liebscher, B. (2016). Rooted: The hidden places where God develops you. WaterBrook Press.