echoes of redemption

Getting short-term priorities and long-term goals to line up is a whip.

• We want to get in shape, but we need a caffeine fix… which is accompanied by mass amounts of sugar.
• We want strong relationships with God, but we’re too busy to pray or read Scripture regularly.
• We want to be pure, but it’s a quick look and no one will every know.

Any action items on a topic like this would be redundant. I don’t know about you, but one of my problems as I set priorities in the present is that I want to travel down the road and disregard the detours. But how much farther would I be if I weren’t stopping every 15 feet? Or having to double back?

I know part of it is living with the understanding that everything counts – even the small stuff. But more than that, I’ve learned sometimes it’s forgiving yourself for the past.

What if we learned from every detour we’ve made? What if we became experts at spotting them from miles away? What if laser-like focus comes from future-orientation and past experience?

And if changing the world only comes through changed people, what if we embraced the journey we’ve already traveled as the foundation for the future?

Having someone close to you who can speak wisdom into your life is indispensable.

They are the one who can help you seen the forest through the trees. Validate you when you have a problem, passion or dream that needs to be encouraged. Keep you on track when you find yourself caught in the threads of anger or un-forgiveness.

A few years ago I was thinking about this kind of relationship in generalities. I really didn’t have anyone in my life who was doing this. Which is dangerous.

At first I was a little upset at God that he would not have put someone in my life to do this – then I realized that I hadn’t been actively pursuing this kind of relationship. So my thought was, what if this person is already in my life and I’m just not leaning in to the friendship?

So I took an inventory of my friends and realized that one guy in my life was consistently able to see the big picture. That he inspired me to do bigger and greater things when we talked. That he would listen to me rant, rave and curse – and without judging me, guide me back toward center.

I just needed to lean in to the friendship.

But it wasn’t long before I realized that just like I needed someone in my life, I also need to be that person for someone else. So I began to look around.

And two other incredible friendships developed.

It’s too easy to float through life and not lean in to the friendships God has placed in our path. And that hurts us all – because we are at our best when we do life together.

Most personal technology is designed to give the end user more control.

Controlling music, email or the temperature one’s butt on the commute to work is awesome. And easy.

Of course end users are people. And people love control. In fact, most people will devote mass amounts of time and energy into control during their lifetime.

But if you stop to think about the high points in your life, you’ll probably realize there were things going on that were far beyond your control.

Which makes you wonder why we strain to control so many things.