Working Toward the Win
I sat in a conference room on Friday and watched a friend of mine get a “win” that he has been working toward for many years…. years. He has sat through way too many very long meetings, taken up entire weekends, had countless conversations repeating the same dialogue, took part in hours of Skype meetings, and oftentimes, asked himself “what am I doing?” and “why am I doing this?” But Friday, in what took about half an hour, everything came together, and he got the final “yes.”
In the business and ministry world, we don’t allow for end zone celebrations or touchdown dances. That would just be weird. It shouldn’t be but it would be. But the point is those long-time-coming, hard-earned-wins need to be celebrated somehow.
There were many times my friend thought about, prayed about, would have had the really good sense, to just quit. And no one would have blamed him.
But here’s the real “win”…. There are thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of men who will benefit on many levels because of his efforts that he has put in. The end did indeed justify the means because lives can change forever. Those are the things worth putting the work in for.
So, fill in these blanks….
Before I die, I really want to …
Before I die, I hope that I can …
Before I die, I want to start …
Before I die, I want to stop …
Before I die, I believe God wants me to …
It does not matter what has not happened up to this day. That’s all gone. It only matters what you are going to dotoday. The words in my questions don’t matter either. What you answer on the other side of the question is what truly matters. And if you are still breathing and reading this, it is not too late.
Maybe it would be better to focus the questions on life …
For me to really live, I really want to …
For me to really live, I hope that I can …
For me to really live, I want to start …
For me to really live, I want to stop …
For me to really live, I believe God wants me to …
In Paul’s famous Philippians 3:13-14 verses, we really do have to forget the past before we can look forward, press on, and receive.