Divine Direction - A Review

Source: Goodreads

Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life by Craig Groeschel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I received this egalley from the publisher via NetGalley for consideration of a review.

Divine Direction by Craig Groeschel is perfect encouragement for those facing a hard season or those who have hard changes facing them. The book is based on the premise that, "Direction, not intention, determines destination." Every choice you actually carry out is what determines the direction your life heads in. And that's an accumulation of the numerous small choices more than the fewer big ones.

Groeschel asks us to consider a few things in determining our direction - all are based on God's plan for our lives. First, is there something you need to stop doing? "What are you doing today that’s not good for your story? Do you have some habit, a mindset, an addiction, an attitude, a thought process, something in your life that’s hijacking the story you want to tell?" You need to make the decision and take the steps - one at a time - to stop that thing and change your direction.

Is God calling you to go or to start something? Usually if God is calling us to something, it feels a little out of our league. Groeschel points out that "Maybe you’re thinking, I just don’t think I have that kind of faith. I for sure don’t have the faith to finish something like what he’s calling me to. Then I have great news for you: you don’t have to have the faith to finish; you only have to have enough faith to start. You need only enough faith for one step: that very first one." One step at a time is all it takes to move forward and God takes care of the rest. And God will even give the strength to make that one step at a time.

And possibly, is God calling you to stay where you are - stick it out? It could be a job you dislike, a difficult relationship, a project God called you to but has become harder than you thought, etc. It would be so easy and a relief to just leave the circumstance, but in staying, "After some time has passed, maybe you’ll be looking back, reflecting on your story, and you’ll realize that even though you didn’t know it at the time, God was using that very thing that you hated to rewire you, to change you, to transform your life." Being called to stay can bring about change as much as being called to go.

Listening to God's call to Start, Stop, Stay, and/or Go is the key. Groeschel also discusses his own life examples to these points and more, including how he and others have drawn near to God to hear from Him. Packed full of great advice, points, and reasoning, Craig Groeschel's Divine Direction brings the perfect mix of encouragement to face the giant at hand in your life.

Small Beginnings

So I used a chainsaw today. It wasn't planned ahead. My husband and I had dropped off furniture to a friend's parents, had brunch, and pulled into our driveway talking about chopping leaves with the mower and the homework I still had to finish. Maybe it was the homework talking, I don't know, but looking into the backyard I said, "I want to cut down a tree."

Our yard is bordered along one side and in the back by a farm. All that separates us from the animals in the pasture (usually horses right out back) is a simple electric fence and a swatch of mostly dead trees, vines, high grass, and brush. In other words, a mess. And I had the sudden urge to take a chainsaw to the mess, creating a beautiful view of the horses.


Easier said than done. Once we got to it, we found that a lot of the tangled mess had briars and needed removed first to even get to the trees. A cut tree didn't necessarily fall because it was held up by the others around it. And under all those briars, high grass, and brush, lay plenty of heavy, already fallen trees that needed chopped up and removed. And once anything was uprooted, it took a bit of work to chop it all up and discard it to the woodpile or fire pit. In the end, of the whole expanse of the backyard, we invested four hours and had one tiny cleared corner to show for it...and that was just the trees!

Easier said than done...isn't that how it usually is? But does that make it not worth starting? Zechariah 4:10 (NLT) says, "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..." Think back to anything you've accomplished. Now, where or how did it start? To begin my current eighteen year journey of motherhood, it took nine long months and seventeen painful hours that seemed they would never end. My current place in a PhD program required that first step onto a college campus as a 17-year-old undergrad, twenty years ago. Our wonderful, dream, blessing of a house was a gutted, unlivable, foreclosed mess just over a year ago, that took four months of sweat and tears (literally both of those) to make it HOME for the rest of our lives to come.

And God nudges me in the observance of that small, cleared corner, "Isn't it the same with your heart?" He reminds me of my discoveries of my own heart - a mess much like what lies at the back of my yard. Things have died and fallen and rotted, and other stuff has grown over top and feeds from the decay below. A mix of briars holds it all solidly in place. Slowly He's revealed the top layer; but, much like the dead, fallen trees under the brush, with one layer revealed and removed, another is discovered. It's a convoluted mess in there, no earthly light at the end of this tunnel.

The line of dead vegetation extends down the length of my yard. Four hours. One small corner. Is the beginning too small? Is my time wasted? A horse comes to the water bucket...I can now see her approach and watch her drink from my house because the entire corner is clear of debris. And the answer comes to me, "God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful" (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Where was your heart this time last year? Three years ago? Five? Ten? Twenty? Twenty years ago I was an 18-year-old kid living for myself and facing the consequences. Ten years ago, I was a mom of three little kids, surviving the days as they came, but doing all I could, slowly building that relationship with God seriously for the first time. Five years ago, my heart had been flipped upside down with a realigned identity, deliverance, and new God perspective. Three years ago, my heart was on the verge of hearing and seeing God like never before. Almost exactly this time last year, God gave me a small glimpse of a future calling. A small beginning twenty years ago has led me to this point and now a new small beginning starts.

The fact of the matter is, we cannot effectively head into our futures and the callings God has for us without His refining fire. Change is hard and often painful, but He brings it in the best timing and for the best purpose. We wield our chainsaws (kinda like a modernized Sword of the Spirit, right? ) and trust that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to see it finished (Philippians 1:6). That mess? God will take the small beginning you offer up in obedience, and He will help you clear it away. Before you know it, time will have passed and you will stand gazing in wonder at the beautiful view of the horses.

Do not despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin...and so should we.