As a teenager there were countless times I felt as if I was backsliding. In other words, there was something I knew I should do, I committed to doing it, and then 1 month, 1 week, 1 day, 1 hour later I found myself not doing what I thought I should do. (See Romans 7:15)
Those “backsliding” moments were so frustrating as a young person. I felt as if it was impossible to get it RIGHT for any length of time. Every time there was a chance for recommitment, I thought to myself, why would I do that, I will just mess up again.
As you grow older and mature in the faith, you begin to realize that with every recommitment, you don’t start at zero. You are actually stronger than you were before. You also realize that it wasn’t so much backsliding as it was the process of becoming.
All of that as a backdrop to write about the same cycle that I feel like I am going in my quest for a great productivity system. Instead of calling it backsliding, it is more commonly known as falling off the wagon. Basically, when I feel like I have put in a good system for making sure I am productive in life and ministry and then 1 month, 1 week, 1 day, or 1 hour later I have found myself not doing what I wanted to be doing.
This is where that important lesson that I had to learn in my late teens and early 20’s comes in handy. As frustrating as it can be to come up short, I have to be ready to answer the productivity altar call and get back on the wagon. That is one of the strengths of the “Getting Things Done” system, the ability to pick up right where you left off.
So if you are struggling with your walk with God or your productivity system, don’t let your recent mess up stop you from going at it again, and know that you are further along than you were the last time.
Great thought! We used to call it “FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT!” That right actions would produce right heart. Well you definately fall short but its encouraging to know you are actually falling forward… great thought bud might steal it for a sermon.
Justin, it is true! Sometimes we are taken on a roller coaster ride where we experience major ups and downs where we find ourselves continually rededicating to the Lord. It is easy to get down and feel bad about not staying high on the mountain and soaking up all God has for us. We do not need to be in so much turmoil about these ups and downs, it is simply part of life on earth. On October 1st I read the October 1st passage from Oswald Chambers “My Utmost for His Highest” and it touched me. Your blog note and the Oswald Chambers passage are so similar. Here is some of what he has to say….
“We have all had times of the mount, when we have seen things from God’s standpoint and have wanted to stay there; but God will never allow us to stay there. The test is our spiritual life is the power to descend; if we have power to rise only, something is wrong. It is a great thing to be on the mount with God, but a [person] only gets there in order that afterwards [they] may get down among the devil-possessed and lift them up…”
What Chambers is saying here is that when we “fall of the wagon” as you put it, Justin, we need to take that opportunity to life up those we have fallen among. Of course those we have fallen among are the “devil-possessed” as Chambers says. We can help lift them up into the wagon and continue on the journey until we, inevitably, fall again.