“But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.”

Public companies love to see analysts who cover their stocks put in a “Buy” recommendation.  They certainly don’t like “Sell” calls and almost as worse, in other ways, is when they put a “Hold” on the stock.  It’s limbo land.  It means that they believe the company is doing as well as they can at the time and cannot be sure enough to recommend that anyone accumulates more of the stock.  “Holds” are also tough because there needs to be some positive catalyst to move back to “Buy” and  much more easily “Sell” could be coming soon.  It’s a good lesson that any holding pattern is not the place to be if we are trying to move forward and grow.  When we feel like we have been put on hold then let’s take that time to figure out how to push forward.  The point is, just because we are being held, for any reason, doesn’t mean we should waste that time.

Wow, have we been put on hold for nearly the past year?  As I write this, the Bay Area of California, where I live most of the year, has just been lifted from the most recent Shelter-in-Place.  We are far from returning to “normal” but at least we are back to moving in the right direction.  The challenge to us all is real, are we stuck in our own holding pattern or are we still striving to move forward?  Paul told the Philippian Church as they were maturing in their faith that even through disagreements and learning that at the least they should hold on to where they are and do not slide backwards.  It’s a great lesson for us in our lives.  In the worst of times when we are held up, can we ground ourselves where we are so that when we can, we are back to progressing without having lost ground that must be regained.

Reference: Philippians 3:16 (New Living Translation)