My management team got together the other day to review our progress on a major corporate initiative. About a year ago we had laid out a huge, exciting new vision, and we’ve been working ever since to implement on it.
Well, struggling, actually, would be a better word.
Aside from its complexity, there have been all sorts of things getting in our way - cultural resistance, system issues, and unlearning the way we used to do things, to name a few.
After an hour of complaining about how much we suck, one particularly insightful manager finally said, “You know, it’s been hard, but look how far we’ve come compared to just three months ago.” He proceeded to check off a litany of positive changes that have taken hold, as everyone listened attentively.
He was right. We were sinking so deep in the muck and mire, looking at all that we haven’t accomplished yet, that we had forgotten about the momentum we were riding with.
This reminded me of a scripture passage I had just read, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. In the first part, the Apostle Paul is describing an incredible vision where he was taken up into “the Third Heaven,” whatever that is. It sounds like God decided to give him a personal tour of some of the peripheral heavenly places, just to give him a taste of what was coming.
Now, that must have made Paul feel really, really important.
But then he immediately contrasts this astounding Vision with talk of a pain-in-the-butt chronic problem that is driving him crazy, which he calls his “thorn in the side.” God won’t take it away.
“I don’t care how important you are,” God says to him. “Deal with it.“
So there you have it: a life-altering Vision, and then the dregs of life, all bound up together. Isn’t that just how it is?
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Image by Jim (MyArtistSoul). Used with permission via Flickr.
