07.08 | Breadcrumbs

Acts 9:23-43

‘Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.”’

Acts 9:36-38

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Sometimes where God has led you today is en route to where He will lead you tomorrow.

It’s not that today is unimportant. There is work to be done here. But it is not the destination. No real place this side of eternity is destination, but all are en route to the heart of the Father and the Eternal Homeland. No real place should truly feel to us like ‘arriving’ or ‘having made it’, even if some will feel more like it than others. 

But the en route place can also feel difficult. It can feel like camping, a mere stop-off, a reasonable place to stay and live and work, and yet also without the comfort and easy authenticity of home. Without knowledge of where you are en route to, it can also feel strange, disjointed, and unclear. En route leaves you asking, Why am I here?

En route can be place. En route can be seasons. En route can be today’s task list that has a trajectory into new things tomorrow. 

Peter today is on such a mission. He’s left Jerusalem—the epicentre of the Early Church—and has gone itinerant, travelling around the believers in the surrounding areas, strengthening and healing and teaching. 

His travels take him to Lydda, twenty-three miles northwest of Jerusalem. He heals Aeneas from paralysis, and news spreads further northwest, into the region called Sharon.

At this point he may have been wondering about returning to Jerusalem. But he is drawn further out northwest by the death of Dorcas.¹ Peter raises her from the dead, which provides a stunning ministry opportunity for him to remain in Joppa with this living, breathing example of resurrection—Dorcas no doubt sitting among the believers, as Peter taught them in the resurrection Way. With Simon the tanner opening his home to Peter, Peter is circumstantially set to stay there.

At this point Peter has no knowledge of what will come next. He is positioned today, yet does not yet know about tomorrow.

Because tomorrow he will be led further northwest, up to Caesarea in the region of Sharon, in the great next step for the Christian Church. Tomorrow he will find himself in the house of Cornelius, and the Spirit of God will fall on the household of a man who is not Jewish—exploding the life of Christianity beyond the parameters of the Jews and into all the nations of the earth. Tomorrow is a day of fulfilment and outpouring. Tomorrow is where this whole journey north and west will resolve into the hindsight clarity of the lead of God.

Peter doesn’t know this. He’s just following the trail of breadcrumbs. He’s being obedience with what the Lord has put before him today. Tomorrow, he will do the same again. 

There are many seasons and moments when our positioning today doesn’t reveal the destination tomorrow. But our ignorance of tomorrow does not mean that the destination is not good. That we cannot see fulfilment to His purposes and intentions today does not mean that it will not come tomorrow. And our faithfulness in the work of today is often preparing the ground for His faithfulness to the work of tomorrow. 

Steady your heart and lift your eyes. Our question is not Is this place easy?, but Did He lead me here? For if so, then we are following the breadcrumbs. We may not yet know why we are here. We may feel far from home. We may not yet have seen the fruit of what He will bring from this, or where this road is leading. But your Guide is sure. For beyond Lydda is Joppa, and beyond Joppa is Caesarea. And beyond Caesarea, the nations await the unfolding plans of God.

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Reflect:

Are you in a season of following breadcrumbs right now? 

Surrender your way afresh to Him. He who knows the road behind you knows the path before you too. 

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Pray:

Father,

How very different it is

To follow you,

Rather than a life plan.

For sometimes, Father,

You give me breadcrumb trails

And Lydda paths

And I find myself in Joppa—

Far from where I began,

And uncertain where we are going.

But here Father,

Once again,

I give you my trust—

Not always the trust of the steady and assured, 

But the willing trust of one who,

In fragility and vulnerability

Chooses the breadcrumb way.

For here, 

In Joppa places,

There are people to be seen,

Lives to be mobilised,

And death that can turn to life.

And so,

My Father,

I give you afresh the trusting obedience

Of Joppa work,

Awaiting the breadcrumb promptings

Of a Caesarea tomorrow.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

Old Testament: 

For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:

Jeremiah 38-39 | Psalm 95

1. Her Greek name. In Aramaic—the colloquial language of the Jews—her name was Tabitha