McKenzie River rapids create their own headwinds (Mary Sharon Moore, 2022)

Approx. read time: 1:30 min.

Now and then I say something that surprises me. I take it as pure gift, and so I write it down.

Friends tell me, recently, of the situations of chaos and pushback they’ve been experiencing. “It’s so hard,” one says. “I feel like I’m not making any progress!”

When you’re bucking the headwinds, the common intuition is to press forward and buck even harder. But this sounds so … exhausting.

Now, unbidden, the words come to me: In headwinds, progress is not expected, but steadfastness is hoped for.

“Wait,” one says. “I need to write this down.”

Well, I need to write it down, too. The message is as much for me as for anyone.

So, I offer you this question: Where are the headwinds in your life? What are you pushing hard against, in hopes of making progress?

The point here is not progress, but steadfastness: standing firm in your singular, hidden, life-nourishing taproot, which is Love. Steadfastness tempers the need to see results.

In life, headwinds happen. Resistance, especially nonviolent resistance, is sometimes necessary. But abiding in Love will always be more important than “making progress.” Progress happens in its own season. Progress not rooted in Love is nonsense.

Start your year with my book Gospel Vulnerability: The Key to Costly Love. It’s packed with insight, encouragement, and strength for life’s headwinds. Need stories to get the imagination going? I recommend Living as Jesus Taught. Turn your own life experience into compelling narratives of engagement, meaning, and insight with my workbook, Storytelling Our Lives. When you purchase author-direct, you support my work directly!

Be well. Live in peace. Love one another. And please, share this post!