Inertia - Part 1

 My momma always said, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you gonna get."

-Forrest Gump[i]

My grandkids run everywhere.  No matter where we are going or what we are doing, they want to run there.  When we are not going anywhere they still want to run, so they chase in circles around the house until someone or something stops them.  Bumped heads and scratched knees seem to halt the fun, which is not unlike how we all react to adversity.  We wonder, what was that all about?

Business owners often experience the uncertainty that comes with wondering what it was all about.  Give a person enough bruising and it seems like there is a tendency to hold back, to get defensive, and to avoid risk.  Perhaps that happens when markets turn, or when people disappoint.  Sometimes it is because we just missed the mark in the due diligence process, or began running in circles thinking that we were going somewhere. 

It is not at all unusual to wonder about God’s will at these times as we begin a process of retrenchment.  For some, the connection with God’s favor and blessing seems to wane and there comes a time of what Philip Yancey has called, “Disappointment with God.”

Sometimes the most important questions, those that float in vague suspension for much of our lives, can crystallize in a single moment…Does God really care?  If so, why won’t he reach down and fix the things that go wrong – at least some of them.[ii]

And so, while things are changing it is easy to slip into a state of suspended animation – we might call it inertia – a place where one sulkily waits for God to do something.  It might even be a place where one indulges in anger and loneliness, challenging God to strike the death blow.  Perhaps you remember the scene in the film, Forrest Gump, where the legless Lt. Dan Taylor hoists himself to the top of the shrimp boat mast in the midst of a gale, to shout at God.  Can you identify with such emotion?  I was captivated by the scene, because I can.

Inertia is the great enemy of finding and doing God’s will in your life.  It is grounded in at least five causes.  They are anger, fear, loneliness, distraction, and confusion.  I would certainly like to meet the man who has been in business for any length of time, and has not experienced such feelings.  They don’t need to be explained to you, because they are immediately recognized as a part of your own run.

Inertia is not inactivity.  You see, running in any direction, or running in place for that matter, filling your life with busy-ness, can be a way to avoid dealing with the call of God to move on.  So, you practice inertia until the day comes when you realize that it is through the running, the stumbling, the bruising, the misdirection, the circling back, and the running again, that God gets your attention and directs your path.  Something happens that propels you outward and forces you to move on - I liken it to the process of extrusion in the plastic injection molding business, and will devote a future article to that topic.

As you begin to move, God begins to build in you His own vision for your life.  As you move further, He teaches you the kind of trust that overcomes the things that cause you to pause, or that hold you back from fully committing your life to your dream.  I have mentioned five causes and will take them one at a time over the coming articles in this CNT Series.