Por Matt Norman
A recent Pivot team commented that their experience with us in Barcelona was the most culturally immersive experience that they had ever 
had. This is intentional. If we really want to discover where and how God is working in the community in which we live, we need to know the neighborhood deeply.
This is the work of discernment, which I have come to believe includes three steps—prayer, preparation, discovery. It is important to note that the discovery isn’t necessarily so that we can start a project or “ministry;” so often our default from our church culture is to see mission as something that we do, control and own. However here, discovery is just that—discovering what God is doing—and that discovery changes us and sometimes through such discovery, we are called to participate in what God is doing.
We live at a pace that often prevents us from seeing clearly. We move quickly through our days, through our neighborhoods, through our conversations. We make assumptions. We draw conclusions. We step into spaces already carrying answers before we have taken time to listen. And in doing so, we risk missing the quiet, steady work of God already unfolding all around us.
Mission, at its core, is not ours. It is God’s. This truth reshapes everything. It loosens our grip on outcomes and redirects our attention. Instead of asking, “What should I do?” we begin to ask, “What is God already doing?” That shift may seem small, but it requires something significant from us: the discipline of slowing down.
Slowing down is not passive. It is deeply intentional. It is an act of trust that God is already present and active in ways we cannot manufacture. When we slow down, we notice things we might otherwise overlook—the neighbor who consistently checks in on others, the small café where relationships are quietly nurtured, the friend who is asking deeper questions beneath the surface of everyday conversation. These are not random moments; they are often glimpses of God at work.
This is where the practice of discernment becomes essential. Prayer centers us, reminding us that we are not the authors of mission. Preparation grounds us, helping us to understand the context, culture and people around us. And discovery opens our eyes—not to what we can build, but to what is already alive. Discovery, when approached with humility, becomes transformative. It changes how we see people. It changes how we understand community. It changes how we understand our role.
And perhaps most importantly, it calls us into participation rather than control. We are not invited to initiate God’s work, but to join it. This requires attentiveness, patience and a willingness to be formed in the process. It requires us to listen more than we speak, to observe more than we act and to remain open to the possibility that God’s activity may not look like what we expected.
Over time, this becomes a discipline—a way of being in the world. We begin to move differently. We ask better questions. We become more present. And in that presence, we begin to see more clearly the threads of God’s work woven throughout the ordinary spaces of our lives.
I want to invite you into a simple practice for this week. Choose a space you regularly inhabit—and instead of asking, “What can I do here?” begin with: “Where is God already at work—and how can I join?”