My friend Dan and I were trying to recover a deer one Saturday evening. As we crisscrossed a two-thousand-acre forest of pines, dusk quickly became pitch-black night. Soon, to put it in southern terms, I was good and lost. I had allowed myself to become so obsessed with finding my trophy that I failed to pay attention to where I was. Once I noticed that Dan’s flashlight was nowhere in sight, I made the startling discovery that rows of pines all look the same in the dark. I was turned around and starting to panic a little.

In that unsettling moment, I remembered some wise instruction I had received as a child: “If you ever get lost in the woods, just stay put and let your rescuers find you.” The wisdom here is that it’s much easier for someone who knows the way to locate you if you don’t wander deeper into the woods. This is such good advice.

Have you ever felt so lost? I’ve noticed that whenever I feel lost, insecure, or exposed, I tend to think back to childhood. I wonder if this is a defense mechanism that only I default to or if other people experience it as well. I usually see the seven-year-old version of myself trying to navigate my way through the situation. I guess it’s possible that I’m looking for my father’s help.

I can’t recall a time from childhood when my dad rescued me. I hesitate to write this because I don’t want to misrepresent my dad at all. He and I were close, and I don’t intend to be critical of him. I simply can’t remember any scenarios in which he rescued me—or failed to rescue me. My memory is blank.

In difficult situations, I tend to feel abandoned, left to figure things out for myself, because I have no expectation of rescue.

This reality may reveal why I have often felt on my own in my relationship with my heavenly Father. In difficult situations, I tend to feel abandoned, left to figure things out for myself, because I have no expectation of rescue. So instead of patiently waiting for His help, my inclination has been to keep on moving—which has only made situations worse. The rescue I needed in that dark forest would have been much easier to experience if I had waited for help.

Acting on the wisdom I gleaned from childhood ultimately led to reconnecting with Dan that night in the woods. I have to admit I was really thankful for the darkness because I was able to hide my embarrassment in the shadows of the night. Any illumination would have revealed my look of shame for getting lost in the first place.

As your friend, I want to help you uncover where you are currently. We will approach some topics that have most likely caused the look you currently wear. This look reveals that you think you have failed and that failure defines you. The topics of traits, transition, and transformation require a fresh approach from an open heart, which will help you find your way out of the woods.

Whether you are aware of it or not, how you respond to each of them will have a profound impact on your ability to fulfill your calling. Could it be that you have been so focused on finding what’s waiting there that you have failed to pay attention to how you got here?

Could it be that you have been so focused on finding what’s waiting there that you have failed to pay attention to how you got here?

As we proceed, I invite you to consider that you may have allowed some wrong concepts to shape your thinking. This discovery can get personal. Like me, you may have adopted ideas and beliefs that are more traditional than biblical, which may be what brought you to this point in your ministry. I know how hard it is to admit that my thinking may be my problem. Yet unaddressed, these misconceptions perpetuate your inability to see an alternate path that could lead you out of the woods and into your God-given calling.