Unnamed Location: You’re Right On Schedule

I had never been to this part of the Trinity Trails before.

It was a neat little spot, right under a bridge near Henderson Street. It was one of those early spring days when you can wear your favorite comfy outfit without having to worry about any layers, when the wind blows perfectly through your hair without being a Texas tornado.

These days, Google not only knows how to get us where we need to go — it even knows how long it will take us to get there. It gives us a thumbs up when we’re 1 minute early. (Should it give us a thumbs up? I don’t know. That probably means I was speeding. Thumbs down might be more appropriate).

As I pulled up, having reached the correct coordinates, Google Maps displayed the words “Unnamed location: You’re right on schedule.”

Unnamed location. That was so fitting. This friend and I had been through so many unforeseen twists, turns, and pauses in life, and it’s part of what made us form a quick bond. 

We’d both been through some pretty rough things in childhood. 

Both our bodies had been failed by “normal medicine” in some way or other, and we’d been forced to try alternative healing methods and learn way more about nutrition than we’d ever wanted to know. 

We’d also both been through abusive dating relationships with men in ministry. 

Now she was healing from postpartum depression after an unexpected pregnancy, and I was reeling from a small group falling apart at my old church, trying to understand where things had gone wrong. Neither one of us was exactly where we expected to be at this moment in life. We were just trusting God for what was next.

Here we both were, at this unnamed location. In this moment, I had an unexplainable peace. We enjoyed strolling on the trails as our dogs happily ran circles in the grass. 

See, the thing about an unnamed location is it can actually be a really beautiful place. It may be unexpected, but you’re right on schedule. God didn’t just forget you and leave you here. In fact, there’s probably something you need to discover here in order to move on to the next location. 

It might be a perspective change.

In an unnamed location outside of Damascus in Acts 9, a light shone from heaven, and Saul fell to the ground. Here, he found out he’d been persecuting the Lord all along, whom he claimed to love — not some rogue band of Jews. And now, here he was, transforming into the most outspoken member of the group he’d been trying to silence.

It might be to help you learn the kindness of the Lord.

In an unnamed location near a spring in the desert, the angel of the Lord met Hagar, and she learned for the first time what it’s like to be truly seen by “El Roi,” the loving, living God. “She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me’ (Genesis 16:13, NIV). Google didn’t know where she was. Sarai didn’t know where she was. Hagar probably didn’t even know exactly where she was. But God knew. And she was right on schedule — right where she needed to be to see exactly Who she needed to see.

It might be to overcome fear.

Elijah went a day’s journey into the wilderness and begged the Lord to take his life. He’d seen the power of the Lord, yet he was still a slave to fear. (Sound familiar?) He needed to “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord” (1 Kings 19:11, NIV). It’s interesting that what he needed to overcome fear was not the wind or the earthquake, but the gentle whisper of the voice of the Lord.

As my friend and I talked about the things we’d been through while our dogs ran happy, barky circles around us, I thought about how God is never early, and He’s never late.

When you’re in an unnamed location, somewhere between what was and what will be....

Like Paul, you may discover a new truth that will change the course of your life.

Like Hagar, you may learn for the very first time that God truly is El Roi, the God who sees you. And you may see Him more clearly than you ever have before.

Like Elijah, you may need to spend some time quieting yourself in the presence of the Lord in order to overcome fear of man.

Even in your unnamed location... 

Though you may feel like the “pause” button has been hit on your life and ministry…

Though you may have never planned to be here...

You’re right on schedule.