The Compass That Points Somewhere Else

In 2019, National Geographic reported that the magnetic north pole was shifting faster than at any point in recorded history — racing across the Canadian Arctic toward Siberia at roughly 34 miles per year. Navigation systems worldwide had to be recalibrated. Pilots, sailors, and smartphone maps all depended on knowing where true north actually was, and suddenly the old coordinates were no longer reliable.

Every compass needle is restless until it finds its orientation. It doesn't matter what direction the ship is sailing or how strong the current pulls — the needle ignores all of it, fixed on something beyond the immediate horizon. It answers to an invisible force that most passengers never think about.

Paul tells the Colossians that the resurrection has done something similar to the Christian's inner compass. "Set your minds on things above," he writes — not as wishful thinking, but because something real has shifted. You died. You were raised. Your life is now hidden with Christ in God. The coordinates have changed.

This doesn't mean walking around with your head in the clouds. The sailor still reads the waves, still ties the ropes, still watches the weather. But every decision runs through a different reference point. The compass doesn't ignore the sea — it simply refuses to be defined by it.

And one day, Paul promises, what has been hidden will be revealed. The needle and the north will finally meet face to face, and we will appear with Him in glory.