“…that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give you.”

Yesterday, we read of “finding bottom” and how the bottom is part of a cycle and can be a foundation for moving forward and upward.  The growth cycle is always a tricky one to talk about because everyone wants to be able to say that their growth is always up and to the right on the charts shown to analysts and investors.  But, while those charts are great to see and we love to read about them in Businessweek, Fortune and the Harvard Business Review, the truth is that most companies experience a very different cycle.  Most companies feel more like they ride a sine wave than just always the up and to the right rocket or the much sought after “hockey stick”.  Let’s face it, the sine wave of ups and downs is in our nature and it is nothing to be ashamed of and if you are in business long enough you will see that cycle be manifested.  Ups and downs are normal.  The key is to be sure that the next low is not as low as the low before and that the next high is a little higher than the last peak.  If we can be mature enough to step back and take the long-view we will realize that sine waves can be predictable and manageable.

My pastor taught a series to begin 2013 called Windows of Opportunity.  You can find that series here. One of his messages within that series was about the success and the extraordinary opportunity of life. He got me thinking about our life growth patterns and reflecting about where we can continue to grow as we age and mature.  The sad part is that as human beings we decay physically and mentally, but our souls and spirit can continue to strengthen and grow right up to our death.  This may not be exactly right but I think it looks
something like this:

If this is anywhere close to right then it should become clear to us where our focus needs to be for our long-term “true” growth cycle.  One place we don’t want to allow the sine wave to control us is in our spiritual growth and strength.  God is there to grow us each and every day so now would be the time to get on that growth curve and see if a life long learning, deepening faith, trust in God, and total surrender, can’t take us all the way up and to the right.

Reference: John 15: 16 (New King James Version)