Building a little on from my last blog, this reflection also links into the fact that Daisy has stabilisers on her bike. Whilst this can be very helpful, I have noticed on more than one occasion that due to an uneven surface on the pavement Daisy can find herself in a position where the stabilisers are touching the ground but the back wheel isn’t. Daisy may very well be pedalling furiously, putting in lots of effort but the fact is, she is going nowhere! And this often leads to frustration, unless she ‘allows’ me to give her a little nudge, so she can gain traction and get going again.
As I pondered this scenario it again struck me that this is something I can so often find myself doing. I can put effort into spinning wheels – but not actually get anywhere. Lots of bluster, trying, planning, plotting… all in my own strength and even feeling a little indignant at the idea that I would need God to help!
When I first started my business 2.5 years ago, I can remember being in a moment of panic that the cash flow wasn’t what I needed. I was away at a Christian conference at the time, and spent the first 20 minutes of the evening celebration frantically scanning through my invoicing system on my phone to see where the money was, when it would come in and how I could figure it out. I was doing this as the other 2,500 were singing their hearts out in praise and worship. Thankfully I was there with good friends… the kind that call me out on stuff. As we left the tent a friend took me to one side and asked my ‘what I was playing at.’ I was a bit shocked, so he rephrased, adding more subtlety; “What kind of idiot stops worshipping in order to check their invoices. If your business need help that help is going to come from God…not you checking your phone.”
Pretty stark. Very honest… and absolutely true. And to add to it, he wouldn’t let me take my phone into any of the meetings after that in case I was tempted to do the same again.
In other words, he had observed my wheels spinning, no matter how much I huffed and puffed, and reminded me that I needed to ask God for a nudge, rather than sweat it out!
I have noticed in the world of COVID that in many of the organisations I work with their focus has been to keep the wheels turning. Often this means maintaining as many of the ‘old world ways’ as possible by simply recreating them in a new format.
I know I tried to do the same at first… keep everything the same, maintain all the habits… only now on a screen. But then, over the weeks I became more aware of the opportunities I have; the opportunity to stop just spinning and spinning my wheels with frantic energy and effort and instead say to God, ‘can I have a nudge?’ In essence, can He please set me off in the right direction, a new direction, to get me moving, not just spinning!
I think that even in our church life many Christians have asked (during COVID) ‘how can we do the same in a virtual way?’ – whereas perhaps the question needs to be, ‘what does God want to do now?’ The first question will keep us busy and our wheels turning, but maybe the second question is where we get the ‘God nudge’ to move us on. The challenge (and thing that needs prayer) is the discernment in our lives… what is spinning wheels and what is moving us on in God and advancing the Kingdom.
I love that Paul wrote, ‘Fight the good fight.’ He didn’t say ‘Dodge the fight’ because he knows we are in a battle. He simply told us to fight the good fight. Put the effort in to the right places. Don’t waste energy and effort on the things that don’t deepen our faith or grow the kingdom of God.
So, here’s the question to ponder this week: where are our wheels simply spinning, and where do we need a nudge from our heavenly Dad so we can get on the go again!
1 Timothy 6:12
12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.