
Momentum.
It is a truly powerful thing. When it is swinging your way everything falls into place. Others are complaining you can’t understand why. Others think life is unfair and you tell them to deal with it, albeit in nicer words than that.
On the athletic field, all the calls are going your way, all the shots are dropping, and the crowd is big and in love with you.
In school, all the answers are coming to your mind, all the right questions are being asked and you have more time than you need to get the test done.
In writing, all the pages are coming together and flowing out of you and nothing seems to be able to stop you.
At work, the boss is praising you, co-workers are looking to you for help, and your pockets can’t hold all the cash that is pouring in.
And in the church, the people are coming, they are excited and thankful and bringing all their friends to see what is going on. When the momentum is with you in the church it doesn’t matter what program or event you put together, the place is packed! When it’s all going your way you have problems with all the last minute arrivals and finding enough time to do all the things your people want. And even if your people are singing some dusty old hymns that you thought nobody liked, the song and the voices are vibrant and alive (an amazing thing to consider with all the hype these days over song selection and style.)
But when the momentum shifts – then you know. Then you understand why the others were whining. You see all the missed calls by the ref, the crowd is now small and jeering you, the boss is thinking of firing you, the co-workers are gossiping about you, the exams are on material you have never seen before, you can't think of a single thing to write and you just wish the world was flat so you could run off the edge.
It is at this time that you feel compassion for the “other guy.” Now you feel what he was feeling. Now you wish you had enjoyed the good times more and had appreciated them for what they were. Now you think, "Why was I not more understanding with that distraught, frustrated person? Why was I so proud? Why did I think the success had so much to do with me?” When the momentum is on your side you try to not take credit but people are trying to give it to you. When it’s against you, you don’t want the credit and you are hoping people are kind enough not to blame you in public.
In the church, when the momentum shifts, it doesn’t matter what program you have or event you put on or who you have in as a special speaker - it seems that no one wants to come. When that momentum turns on you…the people are coming and they look like they have been dragged in. There is a stillness in the proceedings and a dullness in the singing no matter how upbeat the song. The people seem to be coming but not with an excitement and they are no longer contagious in their affection for their church, no friends are following in their train and evangelism is hardly even a spoken idea.
A man can think he is doing a great job and think that he doesn’t trust in the numbers, in others opinions, or other trappings of success until it all falls apart. Once that energy is sucked out, that same strong man now finds himself questioning all that he is doing. He sits alone and wonders, “Where did it all go wrong? Have the sowers of discord finally found their day? Have the dissenters won out?” Did he not confront as he should have? Did he fail to deal with sin as he should have? Was he too mean, passive, quiet, or loud? Did he forget to do something or do something too much? “Why Lord?!” he will ask.
And then it all comes back. All the things he has been teaching others all the lessons and sermons about living for the audience of God alone, knowing that God is everywhere that He sees everything, all the talks about trusting God and the reassurances to others – all of that comes back like a flood and you are left there saying, “oh how easily those words slipped off my tongue and how hard they are to write on my heart.”
It is often that the words of a preacher come back to him, they come back and talk to him and in the worst moments, haunt him.
It is at times like these that I must return to my dear friend Asaph, the author of Psalm 73. Often his words have lingered in my mind in the darkest hours of the night.
(73:21-28)
“When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within, then (in that moment)
I was senseless and ignorant! I was like a beast before You. (like a dumb unreasoning animal that had no vision or hope that stretched beyond the plans of this world)
- This last verse is usually what brings a clarity to things -
Nevertheless I am continually with You
- and this is the verse where the tears begin to roll -
You have taken hold of my right hand. (like a child who’s father grabs hold of his hand with strength as they cross the road)
With Your counsel (the Word of God is right here before me as my counselor)
You will guide me (Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path)
And afterward receive me to glory (when in death my hands lose their strength they will feel the grip of Your hand)
Whom have I in heaven but You? (You are my only hope)
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth (I just want to be near to You)
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (!!)
For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. (renew your trust in God)
But as for me, (the one who is Yours, the one who has been bought by the precious blood of the Lamb)
the nearness of God is my good; (ah, this is where I belong, this is where I needed to be)
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, (I run to a Person not a place when I am scared)
That I may tell of all Your works.” (renew your trust in God and help other to do the same)
My last interjected thought is the reason I write these words here today. Truth be told, momentum and its direction is many times in the eye of the beholder. And while one person or clique may feel that all is wrong others might feel just the opposite. However, the emotional swing you are in is very real and very serious. It is so serious because a “valley” is a gift of God. It is a blessing because the valley brings you home. The valley brings you back to Jesus, coming back to the cross all over again, pleading with the Lord to be near to you as never before. The valley you may not like, but the destination is where you long to be. So really the valley is a blessed avenue that leads us to praise. In the valley you learn the value, the strength and the beauty of your Shepherd. It takes you to the place you belong.
So praise His name for the days of darkness even if you can’t smile through them, because now you know the nearness of your God. What more can you want out of life than that?