Do you celebrate the one step forward? You know... one step forward, two steps back. My life is usually one step forward, two back, one sideways, and then maybe two tentative steps forward again. I don't know how to travel in a straight line. I want to and in my mind I can usually come up with the game plan to accomplish it, but somehow reality falls short of that.
I want to be selfless so I look for ways to serve my wife. Then I get angry with the boys for some small thing and sit and watch as my wife takes care of things that I could help with. Next day I ask if I can help, but with maybe less than a cheerful heart. Then I do some small thing without prompting just to be helpful. That is how the one step forward and two steps back goes in my life. I have the game plan to become more like Jesus and to be selfless (the straight line moving upwards), but reality looks more like scattered dots on a page. Some days looking more like Jesus than other ones.
But the question is do we ever stop and celebrate that we are moving forward? Maybe we don't move forward at the pace we want or it doesn't happen all at once like we imagine, but are you still moving forward? Sometimes I think we need to celebrate the little accomplishments. We don't camp out there and settle for the small step, but still taking the time to recognize that we are chasing after the important and for that moment we at least moved in the right direction.
Who around you needs to hear the applause for the step forward they are taking? Can we focus on more than the shortcomings and negatives? Do we spend more time celebrating or criticizing? Don't misread me. We need to critically evaluate our lives and see if we are pursuing the important, but sometimes we need to stop and celebrate as well. As I've been reading the old testament recently, one of the things that has stood out to me is that two or three times a year the whole nation would stop and celebrate for a week or more. Celebrate an amazing God and how He works in our lives. They knew how to party. They didn't stand around and do a polite golf clap. They poured themselves into celebrating God. Do you need to party? What is going on around you that could use some celebrating? Let's see the one step forward today and worry about the two steps back some other day.
1 comment:
Thanks for this one, Kenneth. I focus so much on the two steps back, I do need to celebrate the one step forward sometimes - especially if it's a step I've been tentatively trying to take for quite a while - or one I truly don't want to take at all. I believe that God blesses all obedience - even reluctant or downright 'I don't want to do this but I will because you told me' obedience. I'm banking on it. Because if I always wait until my heart is right to obey - i won't do it. I think i'm more of a 'act myself into feeling' person instead of 'feel like acting' person. Otherwise I'll spend way too much time waiting to 'feel like it'!
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