Do you feel “Naked”?

Bon Jovi’s song Lost Highway squelches, “I don’t know where I’m going but I know where I’ve been and I’m afraid of going back again.”

I don’t. I don’t know where I’m going….
This is the first time in my life where I don’t know where I’m going.  My kids are older now and I am free to travel and set now a new life wherever I go.

Right now, I don’t have a major goal driving me towards a specific outcome which contradicts that red-hot internal flame that burns deep inside me with a heated passion towards accomplishment.
I achieved many of my goals throughout life. I started writing my goals down at the young wide-eyed age of 18.  Today at 46 years old,  this wandering guy on a journey finds himself not sure what his goals are and it makes me feel “naked”.

Have you ever felt this way before? If so, it’s okay.  You are not alone.  I am not thrilled about not having a super-sonic goal but I know it is not without a reason. It is not like me not to have a big and audacious goal that gets me all juiced up.  I do however, have faith The Lord is preparing me for my next venture.  I know He always puts us in the right place.

While it can keep me on the edge of my chair not knowing where it is or what it is I will be doing, I do know He has a great plan for me. Jeremiah 29:11 states” For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  This promise jumps off my wall every day. It hangs prominently in my kitchen etched in a stone plaque delivering me a fresh new smile every day. When God points me to a particular scripture I cling to it. I am thankful for His overwhelmingly indescribable grace that can only be experienced when you invite Him into your heart and get filled with the Holy Spirit.

I am trusting God to point me in the right direction and take me where I will be most productive and helpful to others. This requires me relinquishing control of my destiny which is foreign to me.  As a student of Tony Robbins, I believe we control our own destiny so I struggle reconciling that belief with just surrendering complete control to God for what is next for me in my life.  In the end, Jesus wins.  I know He has a much better plan for me than my quart sized container of brain cells can conjure up.  I need to submit only to that plan, pray for guidance, and wait patiently as He points me in the right direction.

Determined and fist clenched I always knew where I was going. I am hardly a nomad, yet today I am a wanderer.  A gainfully employed wanderer with a decent roof over my head although these well watered roots I am planting in Dallas may be transplanted as early as an expiration of a one year apartment lease.

So while I don’t know where I am going, I do know it is going to be good wherever/whatever  it is. I am so excited!  Enjoying the journey while waiting for my marching orders even in moments of temporary frustration from the unknown, makes for a fun and memorable ride. I am open, I am vulnerable, yet I am not lost. God is always faithful and I know He will guide me on my journey.  He has provided for my every need as He promised He would and He will do the same for you when you trust Him.

Do you know where you are going?  Are you in a holding pattern?  Are you waiting on firm plans?  It’s ok not to know what is next.  Hopefully, it’s just for a season and your future will be made known through the seeds of wisdom God plants in us.  Be sure to discern His direction.   I challenge you to submit to His plan and see where He takes you. I also encourage you to keep the faith and have no shortage of fun along the way.  Go ahead; give yourself permission to feel naked.  It is nothing to be ashamed of.  I feel naked.

So I will allow the song to play out in my head,  “I don’t know where I’m going but I know where I’ve been and I’m afraid of going back again.”  Besides, feeling naked is better than going back to your past mistakes.  “Naked” is all right with me.