When challenged to find personal momentum, I often think about a scene from my favorite movie, Steve Martin’s “The Jerk.” It’s a humorous way of reminding us about the importance of taking steps forward rather than standing still.
In the movie, Martin’s Navin Johnson is a white man who learns he’s adopted by the black sharecroppers he’s lived with his entire life. So, he decides to leave their homestead to experience the world and find himself. After saying his farewells and gaining the advice of his family, he stands near the fence outside the home hopeful that a passer-by will offer him a ride.
A pickup truck driver finally stops after many hours later of Navin standing in wait. Navin shouts that he’s hitchhiking and tells the driver he’s going to St. Louis. Then he asks the driver how far he’s going.
“To the end of a’ this fence,” the driver says. The driver is perplexed when Navin says “okay” and hops into the cab. Before they can even exchange names, the ride is over.
“Here we are,” the driver says and Navin gets out. The man smiles and thanks the man, who drives off.
A few yards to kickstart his personal momentum.
Gain personal momentum by taking steps – big and small – toward life and God. Do that with an attitude of loving generosity and abundance.
Seeding Action with Attitude Builds Personal Momentum
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. – 2 Corinthians 9:6 ESV
Navin is hardly “planting a seed” when he accepts the 3-4 second ride as he seeks to begin his personal journey. He’s taking action. Not just thinking about it, he’s actually doing something.
Your action – and even your inaction – affects the outcomes of your life. Most often, inaction leads to regret and keeps you stuck in present circumstances. Navin wastes little time in determining the short ride will get him moving forward, which is his goal.
Never mind that he could have been well past that same spot if he had started walking during the many hours he had been standing at waiting. His action got him closer. His inaction provided only stagnation.
Personal momentum is about movement; about what you do, Not what you mean to do.
A farmer expecting a bountiful harvest needs much more than his or her good intentions to get that harvest. Like, anything in life, we must sow well the seeds of our intentions and take action in faith to nurture the outcomes.
There May be Big Blessings from Small Seeds
In Ecclesiastes 11:1 we are told to cast our grains across many waters. This is obviously a ship metaphor. Though, I think it can apply to seeds as well and both have application for building personal momentum.
You see, we don’t know the fate of any one seed. God does. He knows if the seed will produce the greatest and most magnificent tree the world has ever known,,or it it’s a dud that is destined to never even sprout. Regardless, we trust in his divine order.
This is why we must sow many seeds to gain personal momentum. As God reveals those that germinate – some call it opening doors – we must be ready to embrace what is beginning to prosper and take action to see it through.
You lazy fool, look at an ant.
Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.
Nobody has to tell it what to do.
All summer it stores up food;
at harvest it stockpiles provisions.
So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing?
How long before you get out of bed?
A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?
Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life,
poverty your permanent houseguest!– Proverbs 6:6-11 (MSG)
Go Forward And Gain Personal Momentum With a Right Attitude
I am often prone to over thinking. And that leads to inaction. Sometimes, though, you have to see the simplicity in life and get moving. The ant in the above passage is thinking simply about survival. Store food for winter or die.
We, of course, have slightly more complex lives, but it doesn’t change the value and importance of action and attitude. In addition to action, we must have the right attitude. Sow many seeds and do so generously.
God will then bless that person abundantly. As the Apostle Paul writes: “…in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
God, in his grace gives and we joyfully give back through generous and loving action. God then injects more goodness into our lives.,We,are then blessed to repeat our actions to keep the momentum going.
It’s an amazing relationship of loving, sharing, growing, and building up.
What seeds of personal momentum are you sowing today?
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