Everyone faces ups and downs, but learning how to interpret them from a different perspective can help people rethink the obstacles and trials they’ve experienced and see what lessons they can learn. In his pragmatic and thoughtful book “Connecting the Dots: What God is Doing When Life Doesn’t Make Sense,” author Joël Malm helps readers tie different facts and events together to understand the big picture and thus reveal God’s purpose in their personal lives.
Somewhat reminiscent of Rick Warren’s classic, “The Purpose Driven Life,” Mr. Malm’s book uses a different narrative style. His approach is akin to a personal conversation as he weaves his own story into a tale, imparting spiritual insights and biblical wisdom along the way.
How to Connect the Dots
Our purpose can best be understood by viewing life as a series of circles that God connects through obstacles, challenges, and personal trials to prepare each of us for our greatest work. Mr. Malm calls these circles “seasons” and “journeys” or what philosophers call an “eternal return.” The author writes: “King Solomon put it this way, ‘What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.’”Mr. Malm believes life mirrors good storytelling in that good stories are never randomly plotted but scripted. He believes every person lives out meaningful stories in nine distinct phases: Turning Point, Courage, Guide, Decision, Adventure, Dark Cave, Resolution, New Perspective, and Message.
Once those nine cycles are completed, a new circle starts with a new turning point and the process begins all over again. When done correctly, each new cycle puts readers closer to understanding and realizing their true purpose. It’s only then that a person maximizes their potential and enjoys a closer personal relationship with humanity’s master storyteller.
Throughout his book, the author shares lessons he has learned about bringing clarity to life’s messy situations and daunting challenges. For example, Mr. Malm describes how answering a call to take over a Christian ministry in Mexico seemed fruitless and a waste of time. Yet God ultimately used that anxious experience—involving gang members, drug dealers, and corrupt police—to help him grow personally and spiritually.
Letting Go of What’s Keeping You Stuck
Every chapter of “Connecting the Dots” is devoted to one of the nine cycles, seamlessly guiding readers to unique insights and perspectives that are biblically based. For example, in Chapter 6’s “The Dark Cave,” Mr. Malm writes:“The Master knows what will keep you from producing your greatest work. If you can keep your perspective on the big, circular picture, you can have faith that whatever God is stripping away in the cave is a gift to help you let go of anything that is limiting you from becoming all He knows you can be.”
The practical guidance the author shares helps readers identify life-shaping patterns, apply their God-given talents and passions to those patterns and discover their purpose.
One Biblical example Mr. Malm shares is how the Israelite Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, but years later he was promoted to the second most powerful position in Egypt. Not only was Joseph positioned to help the Egyptian kingdom through a food crisis based on his management skills, but he was also able to save his family that sold him into bondage. In other words, Joseph was able to connect the dots and see the big picture.
In addition to Bible sources, the author mixes in an impressive variety of references from sources as diversified as G. K. Chesterton and Carl Jung to Teddy Roosevelt and Soren Kierkegaard.
“Connecting the Dots” is a timeless book that readers will remember and want to reread when life throws the inevitable curveball and seemingly makes no sense. A helpful small group guide is included for readers who want a framework to discuss the book with others and work through the chapters together.
Mr. Malm concludes his book with an illustrative quote from Viktor Frankl: “Consider a movie: it consists of thousands and thousands of individual pictures, and each of them makes sense and carries a meaning, yet the meaning of the whole film cannot be seen before its last sequence is shown. However, we cannot understand the whole film without having first understood each of its components, each of the individual pictures. Isn’t it the same with life?”
