How Do YOu Eat An Elephant?

How do you get into better physical shape? One sit-up at a time. How do you lose those pesky extra pounds? One meal at a time. How do you learn to play the piano? One practice session at a time. How do you build a house? One board at a time. Growth and change are often painfully slow and are the reason so many projects lie on the shelf half done, so many bodies remain overweight and out of shape, and aggressive goals are abandoned.

I read an intriguing section of Scripture this week explaining God’s blueprint for the fledgling nation of Israel to occupy their promised land. Making the land of Canaan home would be a slow, step-by-step process and would not involve the miracles they had witnessed in Egypt. Though the Lord promised He would send an angel ahead of them wherever they went, He was not going to do the work of taking the land for them. They would need to fight many battles as they moved further and further into the realm. No parting of the Red Sea stuff, just hard labor.

Guess what. It never entirely happened. The Israelites disregarded the master plan and made a mess everywhere they went. They were instructed to annihilate the tribes they encountered and destroy the Canaanite gods and places of worship. They should never intermarry with the locals nor make any kind of agreement with their new enemies. It never happened. They just couldn’t stick with the plan. The process was designed to take many years, allowing their population to proliferate so they could adequately manage the territory as it grew.

Impatience and disobedience won the day, and the goal was never reached. They thought this process is taking way too long and is too much work. We thought that Angel was supposed to take care of business ahead of us, and that didn’t happen. And what’s the big deal with letting these people live alongside us anyway?

Worthy accomplishment is always a slow boat.

Years ago, I either heard or made up a maxim that was true every time the church embarked on a new initiative. “Any significant endeavor will take longer than you thought it would take, be more work than you expected, and cost more than you thought it would cost.” Plan accordingly. A wise mentor once told me, “Don, I know you want your church to grow, and that’s good. But always remember, it grows one person at a time. Care for every individual God brings to your door.” That was wise advice.

Are you struggling to take hold of something you want or need? Do you feel like an undisciplined loser? Are you tired of trying? Are you ready to throw in the towel? Here are a few ideas that might help you take your hill.

·      Break every goal down to its manageable smallest parts. If you are trying to eat an elephant, you must do it one bite at a time. Think about the next bite, not the elephant. Each day, take the next necessary steps and celebrate your accomplishments. Before you know it, you will end up where you want to go.

·      You will fail many days. Don’t let your failures define the process. John Maxwell wrote one of my favorite books, and I love the title. Failing Forward. If you allow short-term failure to bog you down, you will lose track of your progress. As they say, “If you fall, get back up, brush yourself off, and get back to work.”

·      Accomplishment always involves doing things you don’t want to do. Do it anyway. Famous football coach Tom Landry once said, “My job is to get grown men to do what they don’t want to do so they can become what they want become.” Even if we love our present job, there are always parts of it we don’t like. However, we apply ourselves to the mundane to get the good stuff. Do it anyway.

·      Enjoy the journey. It is easy to become so fixated on the destination that you miss the beauty of the trip. At the same time . . .

·      Don’t get distracted. When Nehemiah was directing the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, local tribal leaders constantly tried to distract him. One area governor tried to set up a meeting with the wall-builder to pull him away from the job. Nehemiah sent a message, “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.” The wise leader knew how to wade through distractions and not be pulled away from the task at hand. The walls were restored in an astounding fifty-two days.

·      Enlist help. Make every pursuit a team effort. I have written a book which is a long, arduous process, partially because so many people ask me, “How’s the book coming?” It is always helpful to solicit accountability and gather team members who provide direction and encouragement.

·      It is okay to abandon some goals. Sometimes while pursuing something, we get so far into it and we realize this goal is not really what we want. We didn’t come to this realization until we dug into the process deeply enough to see more clearly that this “thing” is not what we really desire. That is okay. The lessons we learned, and the proficiencies we gained were worth the journey. Your new abilities can now be applied to pursue another goal.

Psychologist Jennifer Kunst teaches, “Quick and easy is very appealing, but slow and steady wins the race.” How do you eat an elephant? You know the answer.

Live Inspired!

Don Mark