Last week, we operated a Plinko game at the Anderson Fall Fest. Across the top of the board are large blue letters that say “Plinko.” The slots on the bottom have numbers from 0-5. Whatever number the chip finishes in is how many pieces of candy the kids win. Because the game is so tall, we have an adult climb a ladder to drop the chip, and we let the kid decide where on the board the chip should start.
Over and over again kids and adults would step up the board and I would direct them to look at the letters at the top of the board to choose where they wanted the chip to start. It was interesting how many times the person would look to the bottom of the board and tell me what number they wanted.
A meaningful reflection of Jesus happens as we focus on the start and not the finish.
They answered my question of where to start with where they wanted to finish. How many times as followers of Jesus do we ignore the start because we are laser focused on what we want at the finish?
Truth: God has things He wants us to start, but we don’t because we are thinking about what we want as the finish. Has God has been prompting you and asking you to start new things? Perhaps He wants you to start memorizing scripture, increasing your giving, serving your neighbor, asking for forgiveness, leading a small group, serving in the kids ministry, helping the homeless, joining a church plant.
Truth: We fail to take steps to start because we can’t see how beginning these things will lead to what we want in the end.
Just like a plinko chip has a myriad of routes down the board, God has various routes He can lead you on to get you where He wants you to be and become who He wants you to be. People are always shocked to watch the chip start on one side of the board and finish on the other side by the time it reaches the bottom. God’s route for you may be shocking, but you can trust it has on purpose.
Leadership gurus will tell you to begin with the end in mind, which is good advice, but we must make sure we don’t let what we want in the end keep us from our start.
Keep Reflecting Jesus!