Keep in Step by Stephen R. Graves and Thomas G. Addington Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. — Galatians 5:25-26

Sometime around August or September of each year, executives meet in boardrooms, conference rooms, and offices across the country to figure out how to get their revenue in line with their projections. For the first six to eight months of the year, the bottom line looks as if it's on track. But as year-end spending drops, those in the know start to panic. They create charts and graphs, show them to their employees, and discuss ways to make revenue — the red line dragging along the bottom of the chart — align with projections, the black line gracing the top of the chart. Does this example remind you of anything? Anything other than the meeting you sat through this morning? Let's spiritualize this analogy by making the projection line God's will for your life. The revenue line is your will, or where you actually fall on God's chart. How much variance is there between projection and revenue in your life?

At different times in your life your will and God's desires for your life come closer to each other and then fall away again. There's a direct correlation in how closely aligned your will is with His. The gap needs to be decreasing.

Paul was captivated by the thought that every minute of every day Jesus wanted to partner with him. As he further understood this, he used terms such as "walking in the Spirit" or "being in Christ.,, This life in God required a step-by-step alliance between Paul and his Savior. Many times, we forget the circumstances that surrounded Paul's life. He struggled with the same kinds of things we strugglewith. He had issues of relationship, self-doubt, external hardship, and just about every other challenge that any of us have. Yet he understood the secret. It was staying close, with each step, to the life of Jesus.

Make every effort to live your life as closely aligned to God's as possible. You want your lines on the chart to draw nearer each other every day of your life — knowing the goal is that one day yours will overlap with God's.

_______________

Excerpted from Deep Focus by Stephen Graves and Thomas Addington (January 2004, Cloth, $16.95) by permission of Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint.

_______________

Stephen R. Graves and Thomas G. Addington are the founders of Cornerstone Group Consulting and the Life@Work journal.