Part of Something
The week ahead looms. After all these months of planning and preparing, after a multitude of meetings and conversations, after hours and hours of reading manuals and puzzling solutions, the testing and validating of parameters and mapped data will begin. Having climbed the mountain to get to this point, this next bit is steeper than any terrain traversed thus far. As a group, my co-workers and I are mostly excited to see how it will go, but there’s quite a bit of nervousness, too. So much is riding on this part going well.
Converting core data systems is not for the faint of heart. In addition to customizing the parameters and criteria for storing and moving information, there are thousands of pieces of data that need to be accurately accounted for. We will be working long hours for the next seven business days and will need to work closely with our teammates to get through the required list of validations and determine what changes will need to be made when errors arise.
Am I under stress? Yes. But it is the stress of tightened muscles, ready to coil and release for the most efficient movement. And thanks be to God I know I am in His will. I know that my team will work side by side with care for each other and diligence to reach the goal. In this we have become like a well-oiled machine, all the parts working together to provide what each was made to accomplish. Truly, every joint supplies.
Human nature, apart from God’s saving grace, tends to resort to isolation and self-consciousness. This limited perspective is not conducive to growth and advancement. God’s way is in families and communities. He builds with living stones. (1 Peter 2:5) And He made us to participate in the building up and edification of each other. (Ephesians 4:29) Each one has a part and a purpose.
Dear One, are you part of something bigger than yourself? Have you been fitted into a group, a community, a body of believers? God has placed you in time and on purpose, depend upon it. What He has done for you, what He has given to you, is in your hand and in your heart to share.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:3-5 NASB)
Until next week, beloved, be where God has placed you and reflect His glory.