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The Discipline of Re-Orientation

One of the Most Important Disciplines for My Life and Godliness is RE-ORIENTATION.


There are many spiritual disciplines that are vital for maturity in our relationship with God. Some of these are: prayer, bible reading, bible study, bible memorisation, meditation, silence and solitude, and fasting.

However, the most important spiritual discipline for my ability to keep my eyes on Christ is not something I learned in my spirituality classes! I learned it in my Psalms class with Dr. David Barker! Granted, it involves Bible reading and prayer and meditation! But it's a different approach to these things.  We can be re-oriented through our daily Bible reading plan.  But we might need more, we might need ‘spot checks’.  We can be re-oriented through general prayer, but we might need to learn a different kind of praying.  We can be re-oriented through meditation, but again – we might need ‘spot checks’.

Dr. Barker, in our Psalms class, taught us about the cycle of  Orientation>Disorientation>Re-Orientation from the Psalms. In life, we experience different seasons and moments, maybe all in the same day! We can be really healthy in the Lord (Orientation), we can be in a really unhealthy place in our thoughts towards the Lord (Disorientation) and we can be seeking to renew our love for the Lord (Re-Orientation).


What Does Each Phase in this Cycle Look Like?


Orientation: When we are oriented to God, we are stable in Him. We are looking to Him (not looking to the waves, like Peter did when he tried to walk on water, but took his eyes off Christ and started to drown). We are delighted by God. We are eager to submit to God's will. We are confident in God's promises and His glorious plan for redemption. We are hopeful. We are not confused.

Disorientation: We become disoriented by our own sin or by our circumstances and reaction to those circumstances (such as enemies, suffering, success, etc). When disoriented, we are full of confusion. We can doubt God's good purposes. We often sin because of our confusion and we make some bad decisions. We may feel despair or apathy. We may feel like God has hidden His face from us. Circumstances that might disorient us are: job loss; a move; familial pain; church hurt; natural disasters; poverty; betrayal; sickness, etc! But we can also become disoriented by good circumstances! When our hope starts to be set more on things of earth than on God, we can become disoriented! This could happen when we are dating and caught up in the thrall of a new relationship; when we are experiencing success and begin to lose sight of God; when we enjoy our family life and lose sight of God. In these kinds of cases, we might struggle with apathy towards God because our affections for the things of this world are more than our affection for God.  We can also become disoriented by what we are being taught (either from the world or in our churches). We can be led astray by teaching that misses the mark.  


Re-Orientation: We become re-oriented to God when we start looking to God again, in what can be a long process.  We plead with God to not hide his face!  We remind ourselves of all of God’s blessings (see Psalm 103).  We persevere in seeking God, despite our circumstances or how we feel. We are like that persistent widow, and we keep coming back, asking for God to reveal Himself and His will to us (see Luke 18:1-8).  We also lean into whatever fears or doubts that might keep us from trusting in God.  We search the Scriptures for answers to those fears and doubts.  We speak to mature Christians who have experienced disorientation in similar ways, and learn how they continued to seek God during those hard seasons.  We cry out to God with honesty, sharing all that we might be feeling (even asking questions like the Psalmists: “How long will you forget me forever?” Psalm 13).  We repent from our sins.  We ask God to reveal our hearts to us, and show us our idols, and we ask for help to walk in a way that is worthy of Him (Psalm 139:23f).  We seek with all our hearts to hope in God, not despair (Psalm 42:5).

 

As you can see, I’m not suggesting anything new and radical here!  This is not a new spiritual discipline, but by calling it ‘re-orientation,’ it gives me help to move towards God, when I am spiralling away from Him, through a variety of spiritual disciplines.  

Some Steps I Take to Make ‘Re-orientation’ a Discipline:


1. I ask God and myself IF I am disoriented. 


2. If yes, I ask God and myself WHY I am disoriented.  I might also ask my husband or other friends to help me think through this.


3. Once I know WHY I am disoriented, I ask HOW do I become re-oriented?  What truths do I need to be reminded of?  What sins and burdens do I need to put aside?  What is my current worldview, and what is God’s worldview (or in other words, the Biblical worldview)?  


4. Once I’ve figured out the HOW I need to be re-oriented, I seek to SATURATE myself in the appropriate Biblical truths for as long as it takes to become re-oriented.  This might involve repeatedly praying through a certain Psalm (I have sat in Psalm 27 and Psalm 62 for years at a time); reading repeatedly particular Scriptures to address my doubts, fears or lack of affection; listening to sermons that pertain to my disorientation; reading theological books; reading biographies or reading books written by others who have been through similar things to me (I love Joni Eareckson Tada and Elisabeth Elliot); listening to music that points me to hope in God; speaking to elders or mature saints or counselors; asking for prayer from my church family to be re-oriented; etc.

My Circumstances for Disorientation:


I struggle a lot with disorientation!  Life has been hard for me.  I am weak.  I desperately need God as I work through various trials.  

1. My health: I have a number of health issues.  With that, I experience a lot of existential crisis!  I am frequently tempted to wonder what the point of my life is.  I feel like a massive burden.  I deeply grieve all the things I am not able to do – this is crippling for me.  I desperately want to function like a normal healthy human being.  I am often tempted to think my life is wasted.  I have many hopes and dreams that are lost (ie., more children; musical aspirations; education; employment; travel; ministry; etc).  

-I often do pray through Psalm 88 (“For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol, I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength…). 

-Joni Eareckson Tada’s books and website have been a sweet ministry to my soul, and she really helps to re-orient me.  

-I also spend a lot of time in Isaiah 35, meditating on how the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.  I cling to the hope that the "...ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”  

-I consider Paul, and read and re-read 2 Corinthians 12, and take comfort that Paul also had a thorn in the flesh, but God’s power is made perfect in weakness, and I seek to learn from Paul and be content with “...weakneses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  I give thanks that God uses weakness to humble us, and prevent us from being puffed up.  I seek to keep hoping that God has a good purpose in my health struggles.

2. Violence: I have encountered different kinds of traumatic experiences with people.  These have had a deep impact on me.  I struggle with fear and horror, due to abuses and violence. 


-Psalm 62 has particularly comforted and re-oriented my soul when faced with ‘enemies’.  I seek to make God my rock and my salvation, when I am shaken.  It’s not been natural!  

-Psalm 55 has been a great place to sit as well, when I have experienced betrayal, and give voice to my suffering when I don’t have words to pray (“For it is not an enemy who taunts me-then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me-then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend…”).  

-Helen Roseaveare’s books have really helped me to learn how to deal with this kind of pain and fear faithfully.  

-Christian Counseling has also been a great mercy to my soul.

3. Mental health issues: I can struggle with depression, OCD, suicidality and PTSD.  


-The resources at CCEF have ministered to my soul, and I can’t thank this ministry enough for how they have helped me and equipped me to persevere.  

-My counselor has also helped me a lot.  

-The book of Job can apply to all the trials I have mentioned, but it particularly ministers to me regarding mental health issues.  Job’s anguish gives words to my own anguish.  His experiences do break him in remarkable ways, but he keeps wrestling with God.  I seek to emulate Job, and I seek to keep wrestling with God, whatever madness I might be experiencing.  


4. Sin: There are many temptations that I face that can totally derail my faith.  I struggle with worldliness, pride, discontentment, anger, bitterness, fear of man, despair, and so much more!  Each of these things have a unique and brutal way of taking my eyes off of God.  I become absorbed in the things of this world, in my fears and anxieties, or in my anger and bitterness - and this results in a serious mess for my soul!  Sin deceives me.  Sin crouches at the door, waiting to pounce on me.  When I fall into sin, this causes me to be more concerned with myself than with God's glory.  I become choked up by these sins, and this creates more problems in my life.  My sin will lead me to suffer.  


-I've been tremendously served by accountability, whether through small group ministries, in friendship, or in specific accountability groups.

-When I'm struggling with a particular sin, I seek to confess my sin to the Lord and repent (but sadly, my repentance, in certain sins can take a long time - for example: fear of man has been a lifelong struggle).

-I seek the Lord's face, as painful as that is in my shame, and pour out all the issues of my heart before Him, through journaling and prayer.  I study Scripture pertaining to the area of my sin, and continue to confess to the Lord.


God is the Lifter of My Head

 

I am easily confused and in crisis when certain kinds of circumstances come my way.  And they keep coming!  Trials seem relentless!  However, God is ultimately the lifter of my head.  I have experienced this mercy again and again.  Because of that, I keep seeking God’s face, so that I might behold Him and know Him, and be comforted.  When I have given up and despaired, my life has come completely undone.  It made life much worse.  Hoping in God (even when I feel only darkness) has been my salvation – because it is only God who can save me.  

 

If you are in a dark valley, I pray that God will minister many means of grace to your heart, and help you to learn how to seek His face in order to be re-oriented.  I’m deeply indebted to Dr. David Barker for teaching me this discipline, and insisting that I learn how to suffer well before suffering comes.  His pastoral care set me up to learn how to persevere through trials I couldn’t imagine would come.  I hope you can benefit from his teaching as well.  

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

~Numbers 6:24ff

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