Friend,
SLAWF.
Trust me, you’ll know what it means by the end of this.
You find yourself at a crossroads and have to decide, but you don’t know which direction to take. All you have to do is SLAWF.
“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Stand—Pause. Cease. Rest. Rushing decisions increase the chances of making a terrible decision. I love Dallas Willard's advice: “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
Look—If you look for God, you are significantly more likely to see Him. Pay attention. It’s so easy to get our head down, focused on the next thing, that we forget to look up to see the big thing.
Ask—for the ancient paths. Look to the story of God, the story of others, and ask where the good way is. God’s will may be hard to discern, but God’s ways are noticeable.
Walk—Don’t run. Take the next faithful step. Keep moving slowly, intentionally, and deliberately. Jesus is the 3 m.p.h. God. Tim Keller reframes it for us so well: “The Christian life is not knowing where you’re going but knowing who you’re going with."
Find—Rest for your souls. When the walk with God, your destination becomes less important and your companion becomes most important. And in that companionship, you find the great gift of deep, meaningful, and beautiful rest.
Stand
Look
Ask
Walk
Find
SLAWF.
Love,
Aaron
P.S. This is based on a sermon that I preached on 4/27/25. You can find it on our church’s YouTube page here.
Excellent word!