Reach

Have you ever heard me talk about reach? It’s what I call the attempt—the stretch—toward something good and beautiful. I like to say, “reaching toward something beautiful is never a waste of time.” It’s a powerfully true statement, worth saying aloud again and again! Because it recognizes the value of movement. So often we forget to value creative reach until after it has produced a finished, audience-approved product.

Sometimes while I paint, I listen to  the podcast series, “How I built This” with Guy Raz. As I dab paint on the canvas I hear story after story of incredibly successful entrepreneurs who persevered through thick and thin to bring us the brands we love. Like Dave’s Killer Bread. It’s easy to celebrate Dave’s success story since I eat his cinnamon raisin toast every morning. I never get tired of it!

Here’s the thing: none of us know what our story will look like. We’re not all going to create world famous brands even if we try to. Most of us don’t even want to. But why not celebrate the movement toward wonderful, beautiful ideas in whatever form that movement takes? The movement! Not just the outcome! The movement toward writing a book, for instance, looks like sitting down, opening the computer and typing sentences. And even if, at end of the writing session, you erase every word you wrote (I’ve done that lots of times!)—that was still one hour of reaching. Way to go! You did it! It was an hour that was going to be spent on something anyway because you can’t store up hours and save them for a rainy day. They have to be used. They will be used! Why not use them to reach and then choose to value that use of time? 

Think of your life as a story. Movement is your storyline! It’s your plot. Reach and risk are connected and for that reason there are times you may move toward a beautiful idea and stumble… Yes, it happens sometimes. But even so, take heart! Consider Psalm 37:23-24. It says, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord; and He delights in his way. When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong; because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.”

God knows everything. You don’t know your whole story but He does. And He offers to hold your hand, and my hand. That makes risk bearable. Because no matter what, wether my efforts fail or succeed in the eyes of those around me, I’m safe. You’re safe. Even when we stumble. When that verse says, “he won’t be hurled headlong,” I believe it means that God offers the comfort of His presence and it is a comfort that’s more powerful than anything else that will come your way . It reminds me of standing under a big old oak tree on a hot summer day. God is the shelter, the relief that transcends all circumstances and stretches from earth all the way to heaven. That’s a long shadow! And in His glorious shadow, there’s room enough, grace enough, to stretch, to lean, to reach toward something beautiful. 

~Amy