Living Purposefully in the Trenches
Hello friends,
Well, you might have noticed that I’ve been away for quite some time. It’s been more than a year in fact! I can hardly believe it.
And it’s been 12+ months of stretching and stressing and struggle and striving, all just to keep the chaos at bay.
My mum was diagnosed with a devastating early onset dementia. My mother-in-law has a form of blood cancer, making her very vulnerable. I’ve had weeks of working until 11 at night, as well as huge let-downs at work with a colleague walking out days before a business critical deadline. We’ve had visits to the NICU, heart surgeries and other tragedies that are too raw to share with you. In this midst of this, there’s been relational conflict left, right and center. There’s money stresses, church stresses, society stresses, car trouble, drain trouble, trouble with rogue traders, trouble with migraines, trouble with back pains, trouble with technology… and on and on and on. All while I’m still adjusting to life as a Dad to a boisterous, lovable just-turned-two year old.
It’s been a lot.
Now that I feel I have adjusted to a somewhat new normal, even while many of these problems persist, I’ve had some time to reflect.
The question that has been in the air is how can I best pursue a purposeful life right inside of these kinds of messy times? Where is purpose when we’re in a storm and we’re just trying to keep the boat afloat let alone navigate?
Well, in order to answer this question, I need to tell you a bit about the art of war.
In military philosophy, there is a distinction made between two types of thinking.
The first is a tactical mindset. When you’re in the thick of war, it’s all about reacting. You’re focusing on choosing the best and quickest response to the immediate problems you’re faced with. You’re just trying to survive the battle, and respond to issues that show up.
The second is a strategic mindset. This is about planning actions which will achieve your overall goal. Not just surviving the current battle, but winning the whole war. You’re not reacting, you’re directing, planning, scheming. Taking a step back, looking at the bigger picture and assessing how you’re going to get there. It’s about vision.
The tactical mindset is the purview of the underdog. The smaller, less powerful opponent will tend to adopt tactics which make the most of their smaller size. Accepting that they cannot afford to strategise in the same way as the stronger, more powerful opponent. But they can instead embrace their more agile size and exploit opportunities swiftly, developing spontaneity and creativity.
The strategic mindset tends to be a luxury. It’s the way of the ones who have all the power, and time and distance.
You can see where I’m going with this.
There are strategic seasons. Times where we can afford to sit back and plan and envision the future. We can look ahead down the path we are going, we can listen and wait for divine revelation, and plan further down the road how to get there. We can consult experts and create vision boards and test out options.
And then there are tactical seasons. Seasons in the rapids of life, where we are mainly avoiding obstacles, putting out fires. Just trying to be present. There’s no time for reflection or big-picture thinking. You’re just happy if you can get to the end of the day without poo on the walls, or a visit to the hospital, or worse — the cemetary.
There are strategic seasons.
And there are tactical seasons.
And even though tactical seasons are born from limitation, even they can offer us gifts.
It’s true.
What can this tactical season offer me?
For me, even just to get curious enough to ask this question, unlocked something in me.
If you are in a tactical season, firstly, I see you, and secondly, congrats on getting this far reading this. Consider spending a moment asking yourself this question:
If I accept that nothing is wasted, and even this season is part of my calling, part of my path, what are the gifts for me here?
Here are some of my ideas and my pointers for you to guide your thinking.
1. Clarity of Focus
“When you have only one arrow, you aim carefully.” —African Proverb
In tactical circumstances, your field of vision narrows — but that can bring laser-sharp discernment. There’s no bandwidth for fluff or pretense.
In tactical seasons you have to practice the power of “no”.
In times of pressure, you can develop an eye for spotting the most ripe opportunities.
2. Creative Improvisation
“My whole life has been one big improvisation.” —Clint Eastwood
Tactical living invites you to improvise, to use what’s at hand. There’s a playfulness that can emerge when the map is gone and you’re in survival mode — what jazz musicians call “playing off the chart.”
It forces you to loosen up and abandon perfectionism
You learn to spot opportunities on the fly, especially from things going wrong
3. Formational Pressure
“Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” —Rom. 5:3–4
Strategic seasons often allow for external achievements; while tactical seasons often forge internal substance. There’s a deep soul-forming power in tactical seasons:
You grow in resilience.
You develop integrity — doing good when no one sees.
You learn dependence on God and others.
It’s like roots growing deep in drought — invisible, but foundational.
4. Relational Intimacy
“No man is an island.” —John Donne
When life is stripped back, there's more space to see and feel each other. In tactical living:
Relationships often grow deeper - bonded through shared endurance.
Vulnerability becomes necessary, not optional.
You see the necessity of collaboration and getting out of your own head.
5. Practicing Presence
“If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.” —C.S.Lewis
Tactical time is nothing if not focussed on the present. And if you’re a bit of a dreamer like me, we can get stuck in a future-focussed sensibility. The truth is, we do need to strategise and plan and schedule, but purpose is only found in the present; for there is nowhere else that you experience life.
May you curse nothing to be over, quicker, wasted.
May you receive all that God has for you, even in this season.
May you find your gold in the refiner’s fire.
Godspeed,
TMo
p.s. Now that I’m going to try some writing again, I want to hear from you. Do you have questions you want answered?