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I have a spiritual director. She is someone I meet with monthly who asks the \u201cGod question\u201d in my life. I\u2019ve learned a million things from this little practice of ours\u2014several of them life changing\u2014but the first thing I learned is that I hear God better when someone is listening with me. I see God more clearly, when someone is looking out at the world with me, also expecting to see God there\u2014moving and offering and welcoming. Often in our sessions\u2014when I start to assume all is lost\u2014she asks again, \u201cso where is God?\u201d And I am forced to imagine again that there is some way out of this human mess I am in other than my creativity, diligence, or strength. And that is not easy work. I don\u2019t know how to imagine a hope that doesn\u2019t come from a concrete, plausible likelihood. When I most need the Good News, I really struggle to imagine that God is working and will show up when I need it, even if I see no evidence of that coming toward me through a familiar, practical, or logical channel.<\/p>\n
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My spiritual director sits quietly and waits\u2014sure that I will be given what I need, sure that I will be able to see God moving somewhere and be able to call it out. And while this exercise is hard, while it sometimes even feels delusional, there is always a moment in there, when something starts to shift in me. I start to think\u2014\u201cokay God, wherever you are, if ever you are\u2014I actually can\u2019t get out of this human mess with my creativity, diligence, or strength. I know, because I\u2019ve tried, I\u2019m frustrated, and it isn\u2019t working. That is why I\u2019m talking about it in spiritual direction. So where are<\/em> you? What are you going to do about it?\u201d<\/p>\n Now God never says, \u201cI AM HERE! I am doing exactly what you wanted! It is fixed! Go have a snack!\u201d But something happens. I start to remember that it is not all mine to fix. I start to remember that it is God\u2019s world and God is moving in it. I start to be able to breathe next to all the things I\u2019m worried about, and I learn how to live alongside all the things I can\u2019t fix. They belong to God and not to me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I talk about church planting, this is the evangelism space I hope we as conveners might be able to open with each other, and with the people in our communities. As we gather, can we watch together for God to move? As we listen closely to each other\u2019s lives, can we dare to ask the question\u2014where is God? What is God doing here? Can we find comfort in asking it together? Could new faith communities be new spaces of courage to look together at what God might be up to?<\/p>\n This is my prayer for this work\u2014that we might have eyes to look for God and ears to listen as we do the work of gathering those who trust, those who doubt, and those who are willing to bravely ask the questions. For it is in those holy spaces that I have encountered the converting truth of the Gospel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nListening to God in Church Planting<\/h2>\n