Progress Happens in Stages

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Here is today's communion meditation. 

In Numbers 33 at the Lord's command Moses recorded the stages in the journey to the promised land and almost all of the stages say something like.. the people camped at a certain place then they left and went to the next place. 

I believe there are two very important insights in this passage of scripture. The first is the importance of recording our journey. A few months ago on one of our partners zoom trainings we discussed how to know if we are on track and the theme that emerged was recording our journey. I think recording our journey is one of the most important things we can do. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how to apply this into all of the areas of life, but here is a practical example. If you had a series of videos that documented your progress from 0 pushups to 20 over the course of several months how inspiring would it be to look back at all of your progress. We often get frustrated because we feel we aren't moving forward fast enough, but if we look back at our progress it builds the courage and confidence to keep moving forward today and is also very inspiring for others. The effect of this is way may powerful than I had realized. 

The second important insight is that progress usually involves camping out at one place for a while before moving to the next place or level. As we make progress there will always be times of camping out, where it seems like we aren't making progress or moving forward. In the pushup example, there would probably be times when you were stuck at 2 pushups or 5 or 10 pushups for a while. It is during these times that we can look back at our journey to see all of our progress and keep us encouraged. While we are camping out it seems like we aren't moving forward but it's important to view these times the right way, that they are times to build our character, patience, and perseverance while also developing mastery of our current level. If we get this right it may seem like nothing is happening and then all of the sudden, we take a huge leap forward one day. This seems to be the way progress goes in just about everything, times of camping out and practicing followed by sudden leaps forward. 

Today's communion is a time of thanksgiving for all God has already done in our lives and we are asking for his help to master this balance of camping and progressing forward in stages. 

I am praying for you. 

Daniel