There's a very common, yet true illustration that history professors use and it goes something like this. Our historical perspective is a lot like looking at a distant mountain range.
When you look at the mountains what do you see? If you are close - you see different shapes and some distance between peaks. If you are far away, they look flat - like one big blob all squished together. In either case, what you don't see are the valleys between the peaks. Regardless, the further you get from the mountain peaks - the flatter they appear.
So it is with my own personal history. As I look back at my short life (I am currently 39), I can see a lot of big events - mountain peaks. Some of those events are significant milestones in my life - like getting married, or the birth of our children. Some of those peaks are accomplishments and realized goals - like earning a degree or taking on a new ministry position.
In other cases they were tragic events like the death of my father, or a job loss - or maybe a broken relationship. These are all events that stand out in the past. For me, when I look back, some of these events run together. Don't get me wrong, they haven't lost their overall importance, but over time, my perspective has changed. These events take on more (or less) meaning in relation to other experiences and "peaks" in life.
As my perspective changes, these events - the mountain peaks, begin to look different - rather I view them differently. With any big event, fortunate or tragic I can easily become overwhelmed by it. The event consumes my entire field of vision. This isn't necessarily always a bad thing - I often call it "focus" or chalk it up to my own personal diligence. What I don't do is put this all-encompassing event in its proper perspective. How can I? - It is currently the most important thing in my world! This has been a big problem for me throughout my life - my tendency to get overwhelmed.
Over time though, the biggest thing I have lost sight of is the space between the peaks. That is where my faithfulness (or lack of faithfulness) is fleshed out. The space between; the valleys, the dull dry spots, even the times in "recovery" from a tragedy or the let-down after a huge exciting event - these are the times that really count. These empty spaces are usually the places where I set myself up for my biggest failures. It is in these empty spaces where faithfulness and tenacity can dictate potential fruitfulness (or lack thereof) down the line. I have always had the tendency to rest on my big fat laurels a bit too long after every little accomplishment, and I am also too slow to recover after a let-down or tragedy.
The Apostle Paul tells us very plainly,
"... Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which
Paul didn't say to just forget about the bad stuff behind us. There's good stuff that happened too! Earlier in his thoughts he said that all of his religious accomplishments amounted to nothing more than POOP! (If you don't believe me - look it up!) The message that I (continually) need to learn is that I cannot let the bad stuff hold me back. Those things are history. I need to learn what I can from them, forgive, and allow the Lord to heal me. Likewise - I can't rely on the good stuff to carry me through. Anything that I may have accomplished in the past is just that - it's in the past. I have to be diligent in the here and now and press on.
1 comments:
Good stuff Steve. I finally gave myself a few moments to read your post properly. It was a good word that I need to hear right now, thanks.
Jason
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