“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

My farmer dad had a saying that he would frequently use when engaging in long-term projects that involved a high degree of complexity, skill and commitment. It wasn’t original to him and I’m sure you’ve probably heard variations of it.  Here it is: 3 steps forward, 2 steps back.

So, when putting on a new roof on a building and discovering that he needed to replace a significant portion of the plywood underneath… “Well, it’s 3 steps forward and 2 steps back!” Or when renovating a room and finding that the wall he hoped to demolish was in fact weight bearing and couldn’t be removed…“Hmm…well, that’s 3 steps forward, 2 steps back!” Or when his undiagnosed ADHD son brought home repeated notes from the teacher requesting a parent-teacher conference because of immaturity and uncontrolled classroom behavior (yes that was me in second grade), he might say…“Raising kid’s isn’t easy…it’s 3 steps forward and 2 steps back!”

What he meant by that is, we are making steady progress towards our goal and the end is certain, but there have been a few bumps in the road that are impeding progress and need creative solutions.

Forward motion in our lives is rarely smooth sailing. In most areas of our lives, it seems like anything worth doing is fraught with unexpected setbacks and complexities even while we make steady progress towards our goal. Have you found that to be true?

It’s even true in the work of God. At GLCC we have our own “3 steps forward, 2 steps back” thing going. God continues to bless us with tons of forward steps: 1) He continues to bring us many new families who are enthusiastic about what God is doing at the church.  Some of these families are getting to the point of engaging in ministry and people are moving from spectators to participants; 2) Ministry is booming with our Women’s Bible studies returning, a new Stephen Ministry care group coming online, our Sunday night IGNITE kids ministry, Connect @ Home, and Heartbeat Middle school ministry growing, just to name a few; and 3) Our Vision 2020 is creating much positive momentum for our leadership team as we dream and plan for the next 5 years.

One major step back at present is finances. While we ended the year strong, January giving has been truly awful with us burning through $47,861.10 in reserves in one month. Ouch. I hear the comforting voice of my Father: “3 steps forward, 2 steps back: we are making steady progress towards our goal and the end is certain, but there have been a few bumps in the road that are impeding progress and need creative solutions.” Pray for wisdom and a spirit of generosity to blow across our church family.

So why do we experience setbacks, anyways? And why does God allow them?  

Interestingly, rather than looking at obstacles as a negative, the Bible focuses on the positive results of trials in our lives. Trials develop godly character, humility, dependence on the Father, and they increase our faith.  If every path were down hill and every sea smooth, we would have no need for God and come to the conclusion that we gain victory due to our own strength and competencies.   So setbacks are unpleasant, but essential…they are “achieving” something in our life.  So let’s press on toward the goal, and also allow for trials to mature us and draw our attention to the One who guides our steps.