But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!” My future is in your hands.
~Psalm 31:14–15 NLT
The word “navigate” became personal . . . quickly . . . as I found myself navigating life differently.
The headmaster of the private school where I teach introduced us to the word we would use as our theme for the coming year. Chapel services, lesson plans, and other things would all revolve around this theme word—navigate. But little did I know how personal it would become for me.
One week later, I fell on my way to get the car to pick up my mom after an MRI, breaking my femur. With the start of school only two weeks away, I knew I would miss a few days or possibly the whole first week. I would have to navigate my way through preparing first-day instructions for the sub. Never a good time to miss school.
But that wouldn’t compare to the navigating I’d have to do at home. Everything changed. I had to use a walker or wheelchair everywhere I went. When on a walker, I could put only toe-tip pressure on my left side, the side of the break. And this for at least six weeks. Walking even with a cane or walking stick lay months away.
Navigating one-legged on a walker wasn’t easy, requiring more upper body strength than I usually exert. Our home is not very handicap-friendly, so we had to move some things around, and I had to maneuver carefully around things we didn’t want to move. I had to watch those fur-baby toys and the grandboy toys. Getting on the bed, using the bathroom, sitting in my recliner. Almost everything I did required a different manner of navigating.
Everything I usually did outside—feeding the birds, watering the flowers, pulling weeds, spraying weed killer, spraying off the vehicles, filling the birdbaths—came to a screeching halt. I had no way to navigate some things. I’d have to wait until I healed or let someone else do them.
Life is perplexing. We never know what might happen or when. I had always worried about my wife falling and breaking something—and how life would change for me if she did. But now, here I was, inflicting more pain on her.
Like the psalmist, we decided to trust in God and keep a good perspective. When the headmaster texted to check on me, I told him I was learning to navigate this new chapter in my life. He was glad I remembered the theme.
The psalmist believed his future lay in God’s hand. I do, too. We must. What other choice do we have? Fate? For me, not a desirable alternative.
God is the sovereign over the universe and our lives. Trusting him, rather than other fallible sources, makes sense. He knows the present, past, and future. He knows how to use this break to form me just a little more into Christ’s image and increase my trust in him.
I pray the break will heal quickly and completely, but should it not, I still trust God to help me navigate whatever chapter is next.
How can you do a better job of letting God show you how to navigate life?
I am praying for your speedy and complete healing, Martin.