Many Christian leaders have had those meetings where the agenda was set, the materials were passed out, the DVD was cued and the clock was ticking. We had our agenda ready to go. We knew what we needed to accomplish and where we needed the meeting to go. But then something happens. God shows up. I mean we usually pray that God would be with us in the meeting but I don't know how often we're ready for Him to show us and take control of the meeting.
At this point, we as leaders have two options. One, pull the meeting back to our agenda; or two, follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and go where God wants the meeting to go. Here are three things that can happen when we surrender control and follow the Holy Spirit's lead.
1. We find alignment in our discussion. Allowing the Holy Spirit to lead allows us the opprotunity to let go of our own personal agendas and find alignment in the group. Often the people that are gathered in the room, at the table, or on the committee bring their own perspectives on the issues. This isn't good or bad - it just is. But when the Holy Spirit leads the meeting with His agenda we see how our perspectives fit in the overall picture instead of being elevated above another person's. At the end of the day we should want what God wants.
2. We learn to trust each other. There comes a point in the meeting when we realize that God is doing something special and that returning to the original agenda is not a priority. At this point everyone begins to lean into the conversation a little more and share more freely. Because we've already surrendered to the Holy Spirit we begin to see the hearts and others and we begin to affirm each other. This builds trust. You can do a ropes course or a trust fall but allowing God to take control and surrender to him is better.
3. We are reminded that God is bigger than our ideas. We are finite and we are short sighted. When God takes over he expands our horizons and extends our view. As we find alignment in our conversations and trust among each other we see how big God is and how little our ideas can really be. I think he loves our individual ideas but I also think he longs to share with a team collectively his grand ideas. More people, more alignment, more trust.
Sometimes the best meetings are the ones where we never even get to the first bullet point on our agenda. Allowing God or better following God as he takes over is the best decision a leader and a group can make.
When was the last time you allowed God to take control of your meeting?
So what is it that keeps you from following God's lead?
What would happen if your agenda never got accomplished, if the blanks were left empty, if the outline was never completed ... could you be at rest with that?
Monday, April 23, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
By a Thread
Help and support can come from the unlikeliest of places. How plans succeed can rest in the heart and the will of someone or a group of people that we haven't even considered. There are people who are waiting to be used for good purposes and for noble ventures.
In Joshua 2, as God's people were about to take their first city in the land that God had given to them, they sent some of their men on a dangerous reconnaissance trip. They were staking out the land, assessing their needs, and plotting their method of attack.
With their cover almost blown, help came to them from the most unlikely source ... a prostitute named Rahab. Here's a bit of her story ...
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Joshua 2:8-24: 8 Rahab went back up to her roof. The spies were still awake, so she told them: 9 I know that the Lord has given Israel this land. Everyone shakes with fear because of you. ...12 Please promise me in the Lord’s name that you will be as kind to my family as I have been to you. Do something to show 13 that you won’t let your people kill my father and mother and my brothers and sisters and their families.
15 Rahab’s house was built into the town wall, and one of the windows in her house faced outside the wall. She gave
the spies a rope, showed them the window, and said, “Use this rope to
let yourselves down to the ground outside the wall. ... You
made us promise to let you and your family live. We will keep our
promise, but you can’t tell anyone why we were here. You must tie this
red rope on your window when we attack, and your father and mother, your
brothers, and everyone else in your family must be here with you. We’ll
take the blame if anyone who stays in this house gets hurt. But anyone
who leaves your house will be killed, and it won’t be our fault. ... 24 “We’re sure the Lord has given us the whole country,” they said.
“The people there shake with fear every time they think of us.”
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Even with a promise of success by God they still needed some help on the ground. Their success was guaranteed because Rahab was a part of God's plan.
I wonder what unlikely people God has in mind to cross our paths that we may enjoy the success of what he has for us. How often do we miss out on the fullness of God's desire for us because we too quickly dismiss those around us who we don't think fit our design of success.
There will be days when we feel like we're just hanging on by a thread. We need to remember that someone, an unlikely someone, has a red rope hanging from their window, ready and waiting to help us, encourage us, and in return experience God's goodness in their lives.
Let's not be too quick to dismiss the people who cross our path!
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Top of the Mountain
Typically being on top of the mountain is a good thing. It speaks to good feelings, success, accomplishment, and a place of arrival. Yet for Moses, the top of the mountain was a picture of what could've been.
I wonder how often we miss out on what God has for us because we don't trust him enough. That's one mountain top experience I don't want to have.
How often do we stop short, turn back, or quit? What is true is that when God makes a promise, he keeps it. He keeps it in his way and in his time but he keeps it. May we have the faith to hold on and carry through.
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What's one promise God has given you (which aligns with God's nature and God's word) that you're struggling to believe?
Who is someone you can share that with and find the support you need to keep moving forward?
Deuteronomy 34:1 Then Moses went up to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land, ...4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have now allowed you to see it with your own eyes, but you will not enter the land.” 5 So Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, just as the LORD had said.This was a picture of what could've been for Moses. Because of his lack of faith (you have to read Numbers 13-14) in believing what God said he would do, Moses missed out on the promise of God. In taking Moses to the mountain top God showed his faithfulness. God showed Moses what the next generation would experience and have but that he would miss out on because he didn't trust God.
I wonder how often we miss out on what God has for us because we don't trust him enough. That's one mountain top experience I don't want to have.
How often do we stop short, turn back, or quit? What is true is that when God makes a promise, he keeps it. He keeps it in his way and in his time but he keeps it. May we have the faith to hold on and carry through.
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What's one promise God has given you (which aligns with God's nature and God's word) that you're struggling to believe?
Who is someone you can share that with and find the support you need to keep moving forward?
Bubba Golf
Congratulations to Bubba Watson on his Master's win.
Check out his faith story here: http://tinyurl.com/7hf8pfj.
"For me, it's just showing the Light."
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