Did I tell you I started my dream job? Spiritual Coaching: I didn’t even know it was a thing until I had heard about it on an episode of one of my favorite podcasts, The Next Right Thing Episode 167 with Emily P Freeman.
I get to do something called Spiritual Coaching.
Literally combine two of my favorite words to form my actual dream job.
Have you heard of it before? In a spiritual coaching session, you and I would sit, isolating ourselves from the outside world to talk and listen and listen some more. I’m not a therapist diagnosing. As a coach, my job is listening and encouraging. Together, we are working to connect your struggle to your story to God.
In an effort to be the best Spiritual Coach, I have been reading pages and pages of books with words like trauma, healing, polyvagal, neurological pathways, the mind-body-heart connection, habits, etc. I’m listening to all the podcasts, taking all the notes. I’m trying to absorb all the knowledge and terminology in order to be the best Spiritual Coach I can.
Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Hearing a philosopher say something like that makes me want to read more, to push past the limits of my world and help others do the same.
One of the beautiful things about coaching is so much of our work is to help people find language for their stories, to put words to their experience.
Researcher and author Brené Brown writes in her new book, “Language is a portal to universes of new choices and second chances.” She even goes on to say that portal is within ourselves!
And yet…
With all her knowledge and research, she stops short. She still doesn’t quite access the portal. And, to be clear, she has actually limited herself by not recognizing Jesus, the Word at the beginning, Jesus, the Word with God, Jesus, the Word through which all things were created, Jesus the Word made flesh to live among us, die for us and break through the gates of hell for us.
Jesus IS the portal to universes of new choices and second chances AND He is written on my heart and yours.
And that’s when it hit me. While expanding my vocabulary (which is great), I have been making my well-intentioned, growing knowledge louder than the Word of God. This is not good for me as a Spiritual Coach or as an Andrea.
This world is loud and it is constant. Let’s learn this lesson together, ok?
I am encouraging me and encouraging you to make time for The Word – to read it and learn God’s voice so you can recognize it among all the noise. Tune the tracker of your heart into what He has just for you. Now, more than ever it’s important to be clear on who is calling you, to be clear on who you’re following.
John 10:27 says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” I know the imagery and comparison to sheep rubs people the wrong way. But watch and pay attention to this short video. What do you notice?
As you learn to recognize the voice of God (which is a life long journey), let it begin with The Word.
Are you feeling like you need a rewrite of your story? Read John 21
Are you feeling invisible? Let Jesus call your name in John 20:16
Are you feeling overwhelmed by the constant hardship in your life? Read Luke 22:31 and be encouraged on who is praying for you.
Are you feeling like you are locked in a hurtful cycle because “that’s how it’s always been in your family?” Read 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 to understand how the Holy Spirit has the power to renew and break through generational patterns of unhealthy and destructive behaviors, to understand how you were created in power for power, so use it well.
Are you feeling stuck? Make Colossians 1:9-14 your prayer.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men and women.
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. “ John 1:1-5
That’s our Jesus – “the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
Isn’t it pure and powerful to consider Jesus as the limitless language for the greatest story of all time? And isn’t it magnificent to consider Him as the limitless language and already part-of-you portal for second chances in your own story?
Sitting still enough to get quiet can feel scary. I get that.
If you and I were in a Spiritual Coaching session right now, and you had just unloaded something from your heart; do you know what we would do next?
We would be quiet together. Maybe take a few breaths. And then listen together.
We wouldn’t be listening for my newly learned lingo. We would be listening for what the God of the universe might want to whisper for you in the holiness of that quiet moment.
As you venture towards connecting your struggle to your story to God; make space for The Word.
how the light gets in 