Not All At Once

This week we celebrated our anniversary. A friend of mine and I were talking about a guy who blew up his ministry. My car is about to turn over to 200,000 miles. Friends at church are far better golfers than I. The house we bought a year ago is becoming our home.

What do all these have in common? None of them happen all at once.

On Sunday someone asked me about how you build a good marriage. I mentioned a number of characteristics. Bet you have the same list in mind. What I failed to say at the time and what is probably most important is that you do not build a good marriage all at once. It takes a little of this and a little of that over time. It doesn’t happen all at once.

The same is true with blowing up a ministry. That doesn’t happen all at once. It takes not paying attention to this and not attending to that over time. Disaster in life is almost never “out of the blue”. It doesn’t happen all at once. That’s at the heart of this proverb. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (Proverbs 24:33-34)

A car getting to 200,000 miles doesn’t happen all at once either. In fact, it has taken lots of years for the car companies to make this even possible. There was a time, the Rust Bucket Years, that Vegas, Pintos and Gremlins were shot after 90,000 miles. I remember being worried about a friend driving two hours in a car with 119,000 miles. Would he get home? Getting a car to 200,000 miles takes not only historical development over the last many decades, but a decade of oil changes, tire rotations and tune ups. My getting to 200,000 miles did not happen all at once.

We have an informal Wednesday golf league at church. Some of the guys can whack the ball. I am not numbered among them. Turns out they started young, were on golf teams in high school or college, practiced, hit the driving range regularly and played often through the years. Their ability and consistency to whack the ball did not happen all at once.

A year ago we bought a house. The list of things to do seemed endless. Little by little we are picking away at them. The “to do list” is now shorter than the “done list”. As Edgar A. Guest said, “It takes a heap of livin’ to make a house a home.” It doesn’t happen all at once. Even “move in ready” houses take time to become homes.

Not all at once.

That is a significant, although not new, concept for life. Where are you headed? What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to be? What do you want to have? What don’t you want to be, have or do?

None of it happens all at once.

A good marriage? A solid relationship with Jesus? A Christ following household? Health and vitality? A strong reputation? Work accomplishments? A good golf game?

Years ago someone said to me that to improve your life 100% improve 100 things 1%. The math doesn’t work, but the idea is solid.*

Where are you headed? And what small, medium and large things are you doing over time, again and again to get there? None of it happens all at once.

This week that seems significant.

*Check out Atomic Habits by James Clear—a good summer book.