Building Momentum in 2019

Have you ever watched a freight train move along the tracks? It’s amazing to me how many freight cars one engine car can pull. I found myself one day in my car, stopped at a train-track crossing gate, wondering how much power one locomotive must have in order to pull a train that, at my estimation, must have been sixty to seventy freight cars long. As I researched this, I found that up until the 1990s, the average freight train in Canada was about 5,000 feet long and weighed 7,000 tons. Today, it is not uncommon to see trains that stretch anywhere from 12,000 to 14,000 feet long, weighing up to 18,000 tons. I also found that the train’s ability to pull that many cars isn’t about the size of the engine as much as it is about the momentum that the engine car can create. Trains are connected in a very specific way. Trains are connected in a way that makes perfect use of the weight of each car. The linkage connecting each car has a slight amount of “give.” As the engine starts moving, this small amount of space within the car couplings allow the engine car to pull on the first car before it feels the weight of the second car or any other car behind it. The engine car begins moving first, and its own momentum helps it to move the first car. The momentum from the engine car along with the first car then creates the power needed to move the second car. This repeats itself until all the cars are finally moving. Momentum continues to build until all the cars are moving forward toward its destination. If there was no space within the connecting couplings, then the engine car would need to try to move the weight of all the cars simultaneously as if it were one large car. No engine would be big enough to make this happen. A train reaches its destination simply because it has maintained its momentum throughout its trip.

As we travel on our pathway to promise, the momentum we must create is not unlike the momentum of a freight train. God’s call (or mission) for our lives will always seem too big for us to handle, and indeed it is. Our gifts, talents, and abilities will never be sufficient enough to accomplish all that God wants us to accomplish especially when faced with the struggles and hardships of the valleys we come across. God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to help us move forward and overcome the battles we fight, but we must learn to use each victory in such a way that helps us build momentum toward the promises of God. Just as the locomotive uses the weight of each car to build momentum, we must use each victory to help us move forward in accomplishing his will. Too often however, God’s people who have been given his power stop forward progress because we measure the challenge in front of us rather than maintaining the momentum. Breakthroughs are not measured in size, but on forward progress. This is why Jesus said that faith the size of a mustard seed could move a mountain. The smallest of seeds is able to overpower the largest of objects. The seriousness of the sin is not the issue. Jesus’s sacrifice covers all sin. The longer you go without repentance however, is the issue. The size and severity of the sickness isn’t the issue. The Bible says that by his wounds we are healed. The longer you go without faith in the one who heals is the issue. Rather than measuring the challenge before us, let’s learn to gain and maintain momentum.

Find Small Victories

In 1 Samuel 17:34–35 (NIV), it says this: “But David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.” On this particular day, David was a delivery boy for his father, but he had already killed a lion and a bear. I wonder if David had any hesitation before running toward the first animal that tried to steal one of his sheep. I think that perhaps he may have had a slight hesitation, but I also think that the second lion or bear that came along was at a great disadvantage. David had the confidence of already killing a lion when the bear came along, so any hesitation that may have existed with the lion was most likely not evident with the bear. The lion and the bear served as small victories that helped David build momentum toward the battle he would face with Goliath. Like each train car beginning to move independently yet all working together to build momentum, the lion helped David build momentum toward the bear, and both of these smaller victories served to build momentum toward Goliath. We need to find small victories in life that will help us build momentum toward the larger battles we will inevitably face. We need to create for ourselves personal momentum builders.

One of my personal momentum builders was losing weight. I was always very active at home and work, so my weight was never a big issue. As I got older and less active, my weight was something I needed to control better, so I joined a gym and started creating a daily routine of working out. It was a small victory that still serves as a momentum builder for my life. It helped create a track record of victory in my life. Perhaps losing weight can serve as one of your small victories, or perhaps this is one of the larger battles that you can’t seem to overcome. In which case, find a smaller victory that will help you build momentum toward the larger battle of losing weight. Taking better control of your finances may be a personal momentum builder for you. Creating and sticking to a budget may be a small victory that leads to major breakthroughs. If you are an unorganized person that has a problem with time management, then perhaps tackling this bear will help you build momentum toward that lion that lurks around the corner.

Small victories lead to larger ones. When we begin overcoming the small things in life, we’ll begin to discover that the same faith needed to overcome the small issues is the same faith needed for the Goliaths in life. Begin developing a track record of victory. It is easier to expect victory when you have a track record of victory. Just as a freight train is not easily stopped once it has momentum, a track record of victory will cause momentum in your life that will not easily be stopped.