FINDING THE PLACE OF CONNECTION

When we are feeling disconnected, we try desperately to get back and find the place of connection.

Welcome to AT THE CROSSROADS and my first blog series on CONNECTION!

Last week I introduced this series by sharing a personal story of feeling disconnected (Read that blog post HERE).  We are hardwired by God for connection and that is why none of us feel good when we are disconnected.

Disconnected.  Detached. Separated. Disengaged. Isolated. Divorced. Cut off.  Apart.

I can just feel the power of those words, can’t you?  And it doesn’t feel very good.

Maybe you’re feeling disconnected from your friends or family and are really craving meaningful interaction with others.

Maybe you are struggling to connect your passion and purpose. You know what you love and want to do, but just cannot find a way to do it that makes sense and works.

Maybe you realize that your vertical connection with God is weak and you cannot seem to hear His voice or feel His presence.

I think that we are always in the process of dealing with some sort of disconnection in our lives.

Why?

Because we are broken and fallen people. Since the first major disconnect happened in the Garden of Eden when humans experienced broken relationships with God and each other, we have been trying to find ways to reconnect.

As I shared last week, God is a triune God and the very definition of connection and community. And since we were created in the image of God, we too were designed with an innate need to connect and a yearning to exist within the context of authentic and healthy relationships.

This connection expresses itself vertically with Him and horizontally with others, and we often define our lives by the strength of our connections.

But there are broken connections.  Faulty connections.  Bad connections. Weak connections.  Dysfunctional connections.

You know what I am talking about, don’t you?  It happens in the physical world all the time.  I try to call you and cannot hear what you are saying because of a bad connection.  My shower is freezing cold because there is faulty connection with my hot water tank.  The car will not start because there may be a wire that is not properly connected to the battery.

But the disconnections with God and others run much deeper, don’t they?  And they can have profound impact on our lives and our ability to experience joy, hope, faith, peace, and love.

So what do we do when we are feeling disconnected?  Where do we start the process of reconnecting?

PART 1: Finding the PLACE of CONNECTION

Where/what do we connect?

At the crossroads, of course! 😉

Jeremiah 6:16  (The Message) tells us:

“Go stand at the crossroads and look around.  Ask for directions to the old road.  The tried-and-true road.  Then take it.  Discover the right route for your souls.”

The crossroads is the PLACE where faith and life intersect. A vertical connection between ourselves and God.

It is the crucial first step to establishing any real connection in our lives.

My journey to this PLACE of CONNECTION has been a long and convoluted one. Let me use some visual aids that may help explain.

I was raised in a Christian home with loving, dedicated parents who took me to church, taught me the Bible, and lived what they said they believed. I cannot ever remember a time when I did not know there was a God who created and loved me. As I grew, slowly I learned to embrace the faith of my parents as my own.   God was a big part of my life…maybe even the biggest part of my life…but He remained a segregated part. Much like the pie chart below:

Putting God in a neat, confined section of my life allowed me to disconnect Him from other areas of my life.  I was able to compartmentalize. Does that make sense?  Maybe you are good at doing this too.

For example, I continued to go to church, read my Bible, and do “Christian” things. But when it came to doing what I wanted to do in my free time, with my friends, in my marriage, with my kids, or at work…well, I did not always include God in those parts. I felt as if I had those areas of my life under control, so I did not really want or need His help or input.

I came to later call this way of thinking and living as the BIG DISCONNECT.

Only as I experienced pain, disappointment, doubt, and failure in those areas of my life that I had separated from my vertical relationship with God, did I wonder where He was and begin to realize that I might just need His help and guidance.

How ironic that I railed against God for not being there for me when I was the one who deliberately shut Him out!

It was only after several years of this questioning God and His plans and purpose for my life that I finally realized I was one who had disconnected. Not Him.

Through talking to God through prayer, reading the Bible for guidance, and listening to others who were seeking to follow Him, I accepted this truth:  God needs to be the center of my life, not just a part of it.

The vertical connection with God is the most important connection we need to make. Instead of viewing my life as a pie with God being a piece, I needed to view my life as a wheel with God at the center or hub.

It is only when we are truly connected to the source that every spoke– relational, vocational, physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual– finds true purpose and meaning.

We have to recognize that every decision we make whether major life decisions or seemingly inconsequential ones must be made at the PLACE OF CONNECTION where God is.

If you are feeling disconnected today in any area of life, I would ask you to first check your vertical connection with God.

Consider these questions as you start this #MindfulMonday and go throughout your week:

• Have you compartmentalized your life?  If so, which areas may you need to give back to God?
• Are you seeking God and His guidance at the crossroads,  where your faith and life intersect, on a daily basis?
• Is your faith just a part of your life or the very center of it?

I truly believe at the heart of much of our disconnection is a poor, weak, and incomplete CONNECTION with God.  And if our true desire is to get back to the PLACE of CONNECTION,  we need to start with our relationship with Him.  If you know you want and need this in your life but do not know where and how to start, please contact me.  It would be my privilege and pleasure to show you how!

Please join me next #MindfulMonday where we continue this series by learning about the the PATH OF CONNECTION and how we can take practical steps to connect our passion and our purpose.

CONNECTION SERIES

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