We just learned a small lesson at the office today. My friend, worship leader, and office assistant, Joey, was working on our computer to get it prepped for our Sunday service. We’ve been having an issue with the PowerPoint files not looping for our announcements. Now we all know that if it were a Mac, we wouldn’t be having such issues, but unfortunately, we’re still stuck with a PC in the booth. Joey did research, uninstalled stuff, researched some more, read posts, tried this, and tried that. Nothing. It still wouldn’t work.
I came up with a crazy idea. How about we just uninstall PowerPoint 2007 and just go back to the solid standby version of PowerPoint 2003 which was working just fine before this. Ok, let’s try it. Joey uninstalled 2007 and reinstalled 2003, and it works like a charm.
Why do I tell you this story? To get every one of you to throw your PC out the window of at least a two-story window and go to your nearest Apple store and buy a new legit computer they call a Mac? NOPE. That’s not why I tell you this. I came up witha quick, short, yet profound take away from Joey’s journey with the PC.
“Sometimes the best thing you can do to move forward is to go back.”
We don’t often talk about this because “going back” is perceived as a negative. If you go back, then you’re admitting defeat; or you’re not willing to do what it takes to move forward; or you’re just flat out a whimp. Not true. Sometimes we think that moving ahead is always the right thing to do. What we sometimes find out and what we discovered today is that sometimes after you’ve moved forward in a direction you realize that going back makes the most sense. Maybe it’s because you went in the wrong direction in the first place and now need to go back to your starting point. Maybe it’s at that place you refocus and move again.
In no way do I think going backward is the normative behavior. However, at times, it’s exactly the right thing to do.
Oh wow … I needed to hear this! There are some things I have been at the crossroads on. Whether it was a right decision or not, I might not ever know. But what is clear right now is God’s saying a few steps backwards is the best route to re-center and move forward again. It just seemed so against the norm, I was questioning whether it was Him or not. Thanks for clearing that up! Its just another piece of the puzzle that fits with what Frannie shared during worship on Sunday. I love God’s commitment to clarity when we are truly seeking HIS heart and will.
PS The best direction for a PC to travel IS out a second-story window … LOL …
I get it. If I hadn’t come back home from California to “regroup” back in the 80’s after my divorce, I would have missed the blessing of reconciling broken relationships with my parents. I probably would not have been my parents caregiver for the last years of their lives. I wouldn’t have met Bill and wouldn’t have gleaned from 23 years of teaching & discipleship with Living Stones Fellowship. Regrouping requires humility and going low….when we do, God raises us up to a new thing. It’s cool.
Absolutely… been learning this a little lately, too. Sometimes I think we also believe that, even like we’ve talked about in lessons, that we have to keep going forward, regardless of whether it’s wrong or right, but “at least we’re moving forward.” But we don’t take a minute to reevaluate whether what we’re doing is on track, what we’re supposed to be doing, or even, at times, whether or not it is glorifying the Lord and exhorting the Body. This has been my season, though, lately. I’ve had to go back to the basics of my life. What am I doing? What did I forget about that I’ve needed to do? What are the most important basic things in my life (family, health, my room – for goodness sakes!, etc.) that I should be focusing on, but I’m not?
So, yes, thanks for this word. It’s timely & spot on! 🙂
How timely! God has been talking to me about getting back to the basics. 🙂