A few months ago I picked up Henry Cloud’s book 9 Things You Simply Must Do. The book contains 9 axioms of life and there is one I can’t get off my mind. It’s called “Play the Movie”.
The premise of “Play the Movie” is that everything we do is only a scene in a larger movie. Every action and decision I make today has implications and consequences for tomorrow and next week and next year. And, ultimately it is leading a final, climactic scene when my life movie will come to an end.
Here’s the problem… we tend to look at life in a “single frame” perspective. We fail to see that today’s frame is connected to the past and is charting a course to my future.
It is a good idea to regularly step off the screen of our movie and become the screen writer who is looking at future scenes. In other words, I need time to pull back from the grind of daily life… I need time to reflect and assess ... I need time to be quiet.
This is what Solomon encouraged in Proverbs 14:8 (NIV)…The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception. Proverbs 14:8 (NIV)
Wise people “play the movie”… they give thought to their ways and honestly assess where they are headed. Here is a question I have been pondering… If I plot the trajectory of my spiritual life, what does the final scene look like? I’m not talking about our ministry trajectory, but rather our soul trajectory.
For longer than I want to admit, the trajectory of my spiritual life was leading to a final scene of burnout and disillusionment. By God’s grace, I am slowly charting a different trajectory today. When my public ministry fades and when my place on the ministry platform has been replaced by a younger leader, I want the final scene to be marked by finishing well and finishing still in love with Jesus.
Posted on
Sunday, March 15, 2009
by Lance Witt
filed under