Momentum

It is one of those phenomenons that is hard to fully explain. You hear coaches and players and commentators speak of the magic of momentum when it comes to the flow of the game. It often takes off suddenly, but can just as abruptly come to a halt. A basketball team may suddenly start hitting every shot and get several takeaways in a row. A football team may completely see a shift of momentum when a linebacker intercepts a pass and takes it in for a touchdown. You also may have the opposite experience if you are the team on the other side of those big plays. Your momentum may come to a screeching halt.

I also see it in spiritual growth as well. An individual may get things rolling in the right direction and feel like they have “hit their stride” spiritually, yet one mistake or one discouraging word causes the spiritual progress slow down or even stop. We are tempted to become frustrated with ourselves because we “should do better.” But the reality is that even the best of people experience those momentum shifts--for the better and for the worse.

Elijah did in 1 Kings 18. He was facing off with the prophets of Baal. He was victorious. He saw the power of the Lord. He won back the hearts of some of the people to God. Then in 1 Kings 19 Jezebel threatens his life and he finds himself on the run, hiding from everyone, questioning whether there was anyone left to follow God, and even wishing to die. One discouraging word killed any momentum he might have had.

David had similar times in his life. Most of the first 11 chapters of 2 Samuel records David’s victories and spiritual triumphs as he becomes the new king. But all the momentum he had came to a sudden turning point when he didn’t go to war with his men. As he looks over Jerusalem from his palace he is drawn to the beauty of a woman on another housetop and he ends up making a series of very bad choices. The spiritual momentum turned into a deadly spiral that would cost David dearly.

But those spirals or momentum shifts didn’t last forever for either man. They are painful to read and I’m sure they were even more painful to live through. But that wasn’t the end of the game for them. They discovered the mercy and grace of God. They bounced back in their service to Him. They found their spiritual stride.

It is so easy for us to lose focus and struggle with our spiritual momentum but we must remember that it is not the end of the story. Don’t give up. Dust yourself off and do the next right thing. In sports coaches try to instill in their players to just play the next play. The same is true for us. Let go of the mistake and move on to the next challenge. Soon you will work yourself into the momentum you are seeking once again.


“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press o to make it my own, because Christ Jesus made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

Ben