Celebrating Progress

“I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me to make me his own.” (Philippians 3:12 TPT)

A marathon is 26.2 miles. Only 0.5% of the U.S. population has ever completed a marathon. However, endurance runners tend to socialize with other runners since it is such a time-consuming pursuit. Thus, a large percentage of my friends are marathoners.  Many of us started off unable to run even one mile continuously. Yet, we train our bodies and minds incrementally, mile by mile, over months and years. One would assume that long-distance runners are used to celebrating their progress, but this is not the case. We tend to focus on what is left to be done instead of what we have already accomplished. At mile 20, no runner ever thinks: “Wow, look how far I’ve come.” Instead, the mental chatter goes more like this: “Another 10km to the finish line. Why does my body hurt so much? I feel like such a weakling. I should have trained better, fueled better. I have to pick up the pace. What if I don’t cross the finish line in a reasonable time? I would be a failure!”

Perhaps you are not an endurance runner and all of this seems bizarre. However, you may go through similar self-critical assessments in other areas of life. Think about the issues you have been actively working to improve: relationships, faith, personal habits, projects, work, finances, character flaws, etc. Do you routinely celebrate how far you have come? Or, do you beat yourself up because you have so far to go, or you are not where you thought you would be at this stage of life? The joy of progress can be snuffed out by the pressure of perfection. When we fixate on the finish, we forget where we started. None of us will be able to acquire the absolute fullness of God’s purpose for us during this lifetime. Yet, we press on. It is good to focus on the ultimate pursuit, but remember to celebrate the progress too.