Have you ever felt like the progress you’re making is too small? Like the only time that your progress matters is if you’re making giant leaps ahead?
Me too. All the time.
I think it’s in our nature to want tangible results the day we decide to make a change. We have a “5 days to lose 30 pounds” or “get cash now” mindset, and we forget to delight in the process. Delight in those baby steps
Yesterday our team made the decision to hike the mountain in our backyard. Being from Edmonton and having access to incredible mountains, I was super excited to hike because I’ve hiked a decent amount in Banff and Jasper. Little did I know, we had a DAY ahead of us.
This hike was not easy. We learned after that we gained about 1000 feet over 3-4 kilometres. We were walking through trees at a slight incline for a short period of time. But the incline changed VERY quickly. All of the sudden we were basically climbing up the mountain, the incline was super steep and it wasn’t switchbacks or anything like that, it was just up. I managed to keep a surprisingly steady pace but as we kept going, we had to take more and more breaks because we were all dying. So we started covering less and less ground each time and our pace was slower and slower.
We reached the last 15 minutes of the hike and we were all tired. I was leading the pace for our smaller section and we were not moving fast, but we were making progress. I wanted to get up there as fast as I could but I probably would have died (being dramatic). Taking those short steps and taking my time is what got me and my teammates to the top. And it felt great to get there because we put that effort in and it paid off.
God is always working in the process. He is satisfied and proud of the giant leaps and the baby steps.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been praying about what God wants me to leave behind when I leave Swazi. And for me, I’ve always struggled with comparison, especially on this trip, like thinking that I’m not “Christian enough” or that my story isn’t good enough or that my singing voice isn’t as good as everyone else (big one friends). So I’ve been making an effort to leave that behind and man, it’s not easy. It takes intentional effort to not think thoughts and replace them with truth. And I’ve been discouraged with the fact that I haven’t gotten over it. But climbing that mountain and listening to a song called Oxygen reminded me that God is proud of my baby steps.
God is providing me with opportunities to continue to make those steps forward. Today I get the opportunity to lead worship at one of the more American style churches. And I actually have a lot of peace about it. So let’s see God move!
