Whenever someone enters a transition or recovery program, a new job, relationship, or any unfamiliar territory it seems at first like a maze. If you were to pause and ask yourself if you’d ever been inside a maze is that feeling the same as if you live in one now? If so keep reading, because you may be able to help someone else out. I know it’s painful but let’s go back to the beginning and revisit what we remember. This fascinating place of roads leading seemingly nowhere in which hope appears elusive, bordered by issues, rules, and complex inter-personal relationships, was pretty mind boggling, wasn’t it? In fact you spent much of the initial phase overwhelmed with dizzying protocols, suggestions, and innuendoes.
A maze can look and feel like a maze because we’re looking for a quick-fix or shortcut to get out of it. Plus, all the stumblings, falls, and failures make this like a real, sorrowful experienece. As with any maze or any new, and confusing situation, with enough time spent looking at it, we’re helped to navigate and figure things out. But when you’re in the middle of complexity, uncertainty, and anxiety, it’s frustrating that each path begins to look and feel like the last; each twist and turn is unattainably near to an exit. 
Whether you’ve been there, or currently are there. As you can see in picture to the right, you’re not alone. In some cases it’s a bit easier to get a birds-eye view of the situation first before giving up completely. The advantage of a bird is that their view encompasses so much more. Takes in a larger portion, or size of property, than say you and I. Because it’s so, it’d do us good to take this principle in to get a better view or take on whatever type of maze we’re living in; using more than just our memory to figure out what it takes to get out.
If the size of a property is always proportionate to its elements contained within our understanding gives us a better chance to figure out that the maze is not just a maze – but an actual design filled with the elements of our heart’s desire for hope and faith. Keep in mind a severe test of faith is required here. Those few dark passages shouldn’t dim our hope, but prove our faith. You know, that kind of faith that dwells amidst the difficult rules. Faith amidst the difficult relationships, and hope past the high shrubs always blocking our view.
Faith is one element. So also is competence, achievement, and decision management. Learning to master the elements of grace can take a lifetime. Terms such as ‘an appropriate time’ is another one of those elements that helps fill the size of the property.
Now in closing, let’s consider practically how that might work. Knowing we can’t control consequences or fallout of our choices, we can only control our actions. However we also want to be efficient in our choices as well. Having our eyes opened from an expanded view like the bird, how quickly do we realize then, we need grace. That’s why the idea of principle is so very important. We’re not in control, principles are. The bird knows to use its advantage of being able to soar above in order to see effectively. So what do you and I use?
Well, it should be grace. If we can start to see that a maze is filled and inter woven with grace in those difficult, complex relationships, it makes it much easier to navigate. If we begin to see that each path has a seam of grace woven along its edges so the way doesn’t seem as hopeless; and if we’re one who is seated in the heavenlies, well then we’ve already leveraged a birds eye view that was sufficiently provided. Now, we just have to utilize the remaining elements each property, program, job, or some uncertain situation may contain – and by faith figure it out.
