Every year, I keep track of the most important lessons of that year. My intention is to internalize those lessons and carry them into the next year. Here are the most important things I learned in 2021. I hope one or more of them speak to you.

What worked in one season may not work in another season

Miraculous provision during the 2020 lockdowns gave way to a much more purposeful seed planting approach in 2021 for Converge Coaching. Let me explain: In 2020 the pandemic was foisted on us, and it threw a portion of our plans into turmoil. Cancellations, postponements, delays—all of these threatened to derail our year.

And yet miraculously . . . no derailment occurred. Almost every month in 2020, an unexpected door opened. Clients periodically would surprise us with incredibly generous honorariums. 2020 was a rough year for our world, but a God-year, a record-setting year for our ministry. And when we got off to a fast start in the first quarter of 2021, I thought it would be a repeat of 2020. It was not.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get in a rut thinking-wise. I make assumptions, such as “God is going to do things this year the same way He did last year.” It didn’t work out that way for us. Many pandemic restrictions were lifted in 2021; we could meet face-to-face with pastors again. And it became clear that God expected us to operate differently given these new realities.

If you’re wondering why things seemed to be working differently for you and your organization in 2021 (or weren’t working at all), is it possible you were clinging to the way things have worked in the past? And today represents a new season that might be calling for an adjustment to your strategy? What worked last year might not be as effective this year. Accept that, and start innovating.

Real unity is active not passive

Unity matters.

Psalms 133 unpacks the amazing benefits of organizational (or even family) unity. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.” King David writes that this type of unity is precious, or in other words, uncommon.

Unity doesn’t materialize out of thin air. We have to cultivate it. As a leader, you hope adults will act like adults and actively resolve conflicts between themselves without you having to step in. The reality is humans occasionally get stuck relationally, and need a third party to help them get unstuck.

As a leader, you imagine people to be wise enough not to participate in divisive gossip . . .  but once again, you’ve probably experienced the opposite at times, I’m sure. We all need to be reminded to avoid triangulating when we’ve been hurt or offended by another person. Human nature often takes us away from Jesus’ simple solution in Matthew 18: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.”

Unity has to be contended for. It requires uncomfortable conversations to be had, wrapped in love and respect. We have to work for unity . . . it won’t emerge on its own.

Major success and major challenges often run in parallel

Let’s take the Incarnation as an example. Christ’s birth was a mixture of awesomeness and horribleness. There were angelic announcements to shepherds, the arrival of the magi . . . and then you had King Herod, who out of fear and jealousy, ordered the slaughter of all boys in Bethlehem under the age of two.

The highs of 2021 were high . . . and the lows, well, they were pretty low!

I’m wondering today if this is perhaps the normal course of life. But at times inside my cranium, I forget this third axiom. You can be experiencing incredible progress in your professional life and incredible problems—at the same time! You can experience wonderful things in your personal life and simultaneously be dealing with major struggles.

If we don’t understand this third lesson, life will be a confusing rollercoaster of emotions. We’ll vacillate between hope and despair, joy and sorrow, optimism and pessimism. I think it’s true that life is never all good or all bad. It’s always a mixture of the two . . . often with both happening in close proximity to each other!

What were the most important things you learned in 2021? Let those lessons sink deeply into your mind and heart, and carry them forward into 2022. I don’t want to take another lap around these same three mountains in 2022. I want the lessons learned last year to propel me into this year—and I genuinely want the same for you.

Rooting and praying for you,

John