281 The Known Destination, The Unseen Path: Wrestling With the “How” of God’s Call
When You Know Where He’s Leading But Have No Map For the Journey
Good morning, and hello friends.
My destination is no longer a question mark. The Spirit’s nudge has crystallized into an actual place: beyond the wall in the north, a place of unfamiliar degrees of cold and quiet, a stark contrast to this South Florida vacationland and warmth. The “where,” as I wrote in “The Unfamiliar Cold,” is known. But standing here now, with that destination a fixed point in the yet unknown “when”, I’ve come to the realization the specific curriculum of my “where” is the easy part. The hard part is the “how”. As I think about things, isn’t always the “how”. The “how” is what distinguishes the work of the Father from that of our own efforts and resourcefulness.
My mind, ever the tactician, immediately began drafting project plans. Budgets, timelines, logistics, the selling of things, the uprooting of a life. My mind wants a divine project plan. I’m reminded of Gideon’s demonstration of insecurity:
“And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.”
(Judges 6:38-39, ESV)”
Yes, the fleece test…Gideon negotiating with God. Gideon’s question wasn’t a request for a five-year strategy; it was a confession of perceived inadequacy in the face of a clear command. My “how” has been less a confession and more a demand for a Microsoft Project Plan.
This is where the lessons from our walk must move from theory to the physical: idols released, unfruitful branches cut and the fruitful branches are pruned. We’ve talked about the Master Artist’s custom curriculum , the truth that God does not mass-produce disciples. This “how” is the current module. It’s tailored specifically to sand down my addictions: to self-reliance, my unbelief, to pry my white-knuckled grip off the illusion of control. He is less interested in my efficient execution of a plan and more in the state of my heart during the planning…or the lack thereof.
We’ve discussed the Myth of the Holding Pattern, that what looks like God’s waiting room is actually His workshop. I am deep in that workshop now. The “how” isn’t a delay; it’s the design. The waiting is not passive; it’s where He is dismantling my empire-built instincts and rebuilding a heart that trusts His provision, not my foresight. Every day spent in this uncertain space is a chisel stroke, shaping me into a vessel that can carry the next season.
And we’ve sat in the reality of The Unfamiliar Cold, the feeling of being called out of comfort into a trust fall with no visible landing. Knowing the “where” doesn’t warm the climate. It just makes the chill more specific. I can now picture the frost on windows I don’t yet own, in a place I don’t yet know.
So, what do we do when the “what” and “where” are clear, but the “how” is a blank page? We do what the faithful have always done: we bring our Gideon moment (insecurities, fears and doubt) to the feet of the One who called us.
My prayer is no longer, “Show me the whole route.” It has become, “Father, You have shown me the where. I believe it is from You. So today, what is the very next, smallest step of obedience toward it? What does faithfulness look like in this 24-hour portion?”
Search my heart O’ Lord
I’m reminded of the story of Achan in Joshua 7 screams a warning into this space. Israel’s progress was halted not by a mighty enemy, but by hidden sin…a “devoted thing” (Joshua 7:11-12). Before we can move forward into God’s “where,” we must allow Him to search our tent for any “devoted things” we’re clinging to. For me, that’s the beautiful Babylonian cloak of self-sufficiency, the 200 shekels of silver representing my own financial plan. I must lay them bare before Him. Victory on the new path is impossible while harboring old, forbidden trust in my own systems, the shiny things of the empire.
This is the painful, necessary digging around the roots that the vinedresser does in the Parable of the Fig Tree (Luke 13:6-9). A season without visible fruit is not a sign of failure; it’s often a season of intensive, hidden preparation. The manure is unpleasant, but it’s what makes future fruitfulness possible. My “how” season represents that manure. It’s undignified and it smells, but it is the work of a good gardener who isn’t done with me yet.
So, I am learning to sit in the “how.” Wiggles, my steadfast companion, rests her head at my heel as I pray, a silent weight of companionship in the coolness of uncertainty. I am practicing the questions that turn anxiety into discernment:
Is this “how” worry rooted in fear, or is it a legitimate question of stewardship? “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Does wrestling with the “how” draw me deeper into frantic self-reliance, or deeper into dependent prayer?
Is there a settled peace in the calling itself, even while the path is unseen? His peace guards hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7), the very place where the “how” wars rage.
The “how” will be revealed one lamp-lit step at a time (Psalm 119:105). My job is not to illuminate the entire valley, but to obediently place my foot on the next stone the light reveals. The faith for step two is given after we take step one.
Perhaps your “where” is different. A reconciled relationship. A leap into ministry. A stand for truth at work. The principle is the same. When the destination is known but the path is not, we are being invited into the deepest kind of trust. We are being asked to believe that the Master Artist who designed the destination has also charted every twist of the path, and that our curriculum in the “how” is as vital as the arrival itself.
The call is to walk. The promise is His presence. The “how” is His department. Our department is the next, small, faithful obedience. Today, for me, that means writing this to you, and then making one phone call. Tomorrow, it will be something else. The destination is His. The following is ours.
That is all, and thank you for reading.
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