At one church I was at we held our contemporary worship and traditional service back to back in the same location. This made for some interesting transition times, and meant we had to be creative with our warm-up arrangements. Since we could not get into the worship space sooner than 15 minutes before we had to play, we would rehearse in a small classroom, using amps, a small electric drum set and often no microphones. Not the ideal situation.
I mentioned one time that I couldn’t wait till we could get a bigger space, more ideal equipment and more time to set up. One of the members looked at me and said, “Yeah.. but we’ve come a long way. A few years ago the drummer used a couch seat for a snare and pillows for cymbals.”
I was looking at where we were currently, and where I thought things should be. I was totally forgetting how far we had come.
This is something that I constantly struggle with, mostly in areas of my ministry. I see how I think things should be, how they could be so much better, cooler, more effective. I forget to look back and celebrate how far things have come from that point. As I have reflected on this I have found that always looking ahead has some negative effects:
1. You are never satisfied- You have to realize that when you constantly look to how it could be, you’ll never get there. There is always sometime else, something more, something better. Yes you should strive for what’s next, but first take some time, enjoy where your at, smell the roses and look back and see how far you’ve come
2. You dismiss others accomplishments- You may be one who doesn’t need as much time to stop and enjoy how far you’ve come, but sometimes others do. Others on your team, staff, ministry, and family may need more time to enjoy their accomplishments. Don’t rush on, let them enjoy the fruits of their labors.
3. You get lost in the journey- It is hard to see where you need to go, if you don’t take time to stop every once in a while. By relaxing, and looking back on where you have been you get a chance to get your bearings, and reconsider the path you are going.
How do you get crippled by “How it Could Be?”
What ways can we correct that thinking?
Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarae/
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