Do you want to know the ONE factor that can most significantly spur you on to greater levels of growth in your spiritual, occupational, educational, or relational life?  Mentors!

Mentors

Mentors

A mentor is someone who has already done or been doing what you want to do.  From them you learn how to do it, be it, and live it.  This is the way parenting works.  We live as examples before our children and, for good or bad, they model after us.

When I was a little boy, I wanted to be just like my dad.  I watched his mannerisms and I emulated them.  I tried to walk like him, talk like him, even spit like him.  We learn from watching others.  We learn from mentors.

Truth is the mentoring relationship is the essence of discipleship.  We learn how to live for Christ by watching people who either are walking or have walked with the Lord before we have.  The Apostle Paul said to the early believers, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9)

Paul was saying, I am going to live it.  Now watch me and do what I do.  He was mentoring them into spiritual growth.

So I ask you.  Do you want to grow spiritually?  Then find spiritual mentors.  Do you want to go to the next level in your job?  Then find mentors who have achieved what you want to achieve.  Do you want to become a more loving spouse or parent?  Then find mentors who have done such things well.  Learn from these people.

How do I find a Mentor?

I am glad you asked!

  1. Find someone who is ahead of you.  It is difficult to be challenged by someone less mature than yourself.  Find someone who is living the kind of quality life you desire to live.  Learn from them.
  2. Realize a mentor doesn’t have to be your best friend.  True, it is wonderful when you find that person that takes you under their wing and mentors you.  They spend a little time each week imparting their wisdom into your life and advising you as you determine your directions.  This is rare.  I have only had a few of these people in my life.  But I have also had many mentors who I barely even knew and some of them didn’t know me.
  3. Know that your mentor doesn’t even have to be alive.  I know that might surprise you at first read.  But think about it.  A mentor shows you how it is done, by living it for the world to see.  This is what every hero of scripture did for us.  Those saints of old are not living in our generation, but every time we read of their faith, courage, and even mistakes, we learn.  There are many men and women that continue to inspire me and advise my path who have long since died.  E.M. Bounds inspires me to be a man of deep prayer.  He has been dead for over 100 years.  But his power to mentor me in my prayer discipline still breathes life.
  4. Find mentors in your church.  If you are a member of a church filled with people who want to follow Christ, you should be blessed with people from whom you can learn something.  Get to know these people.  Serve with these people.  Pray with them.  Do life with them and learn.
  5. Find mentors in your field.  Students, do you know what you want to do after your education?  Find people who are doing that and get to know them.  Perhaps you are working in a particular occupation.  You want to advance in the field, but are not sure how to get to the next level.  Find someone who has and learn from them.
  6. Be humble.  You can never fully benefit from a mentor unless you are humble.  The people least likely to learn are people who are more concerned with looking smart rather than being smart.  Don’t try to impress a mentor, humbly learn from them.

Join the Conversation:  What are suggestions you have for finding and learning from mentors?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Ok, how would you like to see your skills in communication dramatically improve…TODAY!  The simplest step you can take is to improve your ability to listen.

Listening Skills

Listening Skills

When you increase your listening capacity, you increase your ability to understand.  When you increase your ability to understand, communication becomes a lot easier.

James 1:19 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”  God gave you two ears but only one mouth, because he wants you to listen twice as much as you talk.  That statement carries with it much wisdom.  No doubt we would be less likely to spark off in anger in our relationships if we would take the time to listen to what others are trying to get across.

So how can you immediately improve your listening ability?  Easy!  Avoid listening limiters and develop your listening disciplines.

So what are listening limiters that you should avoid?

  1. Making assumptions.  Proverbs 18:13 says, “He who answers before listening—that is his folly and shame.”  Often we observe something or hear what someone says in a certain way and then we jump to conclusions.  “Oh she is just mad at me because I am late.”  Well maybe she is, but maybe it has nothing to do with you.  You don’t really know until she tells you.
  2. Displaying impatience.  It takes time to communicate.  It is not something that is easily rushed.  Especially in family life.  Impatience can drive you to draw assumptions too quickly.  It also is disrespectful.  People with whom you are communicating want to sense that you care enough to really understand them.  That takes time and time takes patience.  Cut out the time you need patiently listen.
  3. Exhibiting pride.  Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”  Many of us are more concerned with looking smart rather than being smart.  If we are really going to listen we must put aside pride and assume we can learn from others.  You can learn from every encounter and from every person.  Pride will always frustrate communication.

Ok.  If those are tendencies to avoid, what are the skills you should develop?

  1. Focus on more than mere words.  Communication involves so much more than mere words.  Most experts will tell you that words only convey about 7% of our communication.  Voice tone actually comprises a whopping 55% of our communication clues and the last 38% comes from our body language.  What does this mean for you?  It means if you want to listen better you must do more than listen to words.  You have to listen to voice tone and pay attention to body language.  That means that the most important relationships in your life need to be nurtured in person.  Face to face is necessary for the deepest of intimacy to be developed between persons.
  2. Practice engaged listening.  What does that mean?  Simple, it means you lean into the conversation.  You tune everything else out and you give someone your undivided attention.  Now is not the time to text or watch the ballgame.  Now is the time to look them in the eye, lean forward and listen closely.  This conveys respect and greatly heightens your sensory acuity.
  3. Make detailed observations before drawing conclusions.  Really look at what they are saying, how they are saying it, and how they carry their body.  Take in all the clues.  Then when you draw a conclusion, tell them what you think they are saying and have them confirm if you are correct.

Do these simple things and you will be amazed at how much easier it can be to understand other people in your life.  In addition, they will notice that you cared enough to really be attentive.  That wins relational points and makes you more effective in the lives of people.

Question:  What are tips you can share that can improve our ability to listen and understand the people in our lives?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I spoke the other day to a young woman who said something was changing with her relationship with God.  For years her faith in Christ was mere ritual, but now it was becoming personal.  She had gone through a season of life shaking experiences and realized she didn’t merely need to know the Lord existed.  She needed to know the Lord.

Personal Relationship with God

Personal Relationship with God

Many believers today live their faith as ritual rather than relationship.  What about you?  Is your faith relationship with God personal or ritual?

James 1:26 says, “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” (NIV)  James is implying that a true relationship with God will change you, will result in your life being molded into the likeness of Christ.  If it doesn’t than it isn’t worth much.

Truth is you can be religious and not have a personal relationship with the Lord.  You can come to church regular.  You can give money in the offering plate.  You can try to be fair and good to people.  And you can deceive yourself into thinking that this means, in and of itself, that you have a strong relationship with God.

The real question is this…Are you growing in your prayer life?  Are you reading the scriptures, seeking to apply them obediently out of a deep love and affection for God?  Are you praying for your friends and family who do not know Christ and are you seeking ways to share your faith with them?  Are you giving, not out of compulsion, but out of genuine gratitude?

Or are you simply going through the ritual motions?  Are you going to church, listening to sermons and Bible studies, only to be generally unaffected personally?  Do you do the religious thing by going to worship on Sunday, singing the songs, listening to messages, only to leave there to gossip, complain, or lie with your tongue?

I had a Christian Philosophy professor who once told me, “Saving grace is always changing grace.”  A true saving relationship with God will never be mere ritual.  It will be a relationship that will change you fundamentally.

So I ask you again, Is your faith ritual or relational?  God wants to have a personal relationship with you that transforms you.  His will is to shape your character into the likeness of Jesus Christ.  He wants your faith in him to drive you into a rich acceptance of his grace and love.  This love motivates you to live true to his nature and will.

Our lives are meant to live in communion with God, close to him.

Often I put my youngest son to bed at night.  When I tuck him in I often give him a hug.  I hold him in my arms, press my cheek to his and just pause.  I don’t hug him quick, but hold him close.  That warm closeness with my son is what life is all about.  It is beautiful.

That is what God wants our relationship with him to be.  Close, so close that we walk together in harmony, so close that we work together as one.

God loves you my friend.  Draw close to him, really close to him.  Make your relationship with him personal, not mere ritual.  And let him change you into his likeness.

 

Question:  What are ways you suggest we turn ritual faith into personal, life changing faith?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

When I have conflict with my wife, my kids, or with people at work, I want to retreat and just pray the tension will go away.  But that never solves the problem.

Resolving Conflicts

Resolving Conflicts

Most people hate confronting conflict.  But that often adds to the crisis.  Conflicts rarely get better simply with time.  They must be worked through in order to reach some understanding and ultimate resolution.

In today’s post I want to give you biblical principles for working through tensions between you and others.  I use these principles to work through conflicts in my family and at work.  As a Pastor, I am often asked for advice on such matters.  This is what I tell them.

Principle #1:  Sooner rather than later.  Jesus said, “Settle matters quickly with your adversary.” (Matthew 5:25)  It is usually best to address an issue sooner rather than later.  Putting things off only makes things worse, addressing them quickly values the relationship and communicates you care.

Principle #2:  Face to face is often best.  Working through relational conflict or misunderstanding is a tender process.  It involves sensitive communication and listening skills.  This is not often achieved through the phone and even less effective when done through texts or emails.

It is often said that only 7% of communication comes through words, the rest is accomplished through voice tone and body language.  Obviously, face to face communication will accomplish so much more.  Texting through conflict almost always cultivates ground for deeper misunderstandings.

Principle #3:  Know why you are meeting.  It is good to know why you are getting together to resolve the conflict.  Here are three good reasons for meeting to work through an issue…

  1. When I know I am in the wrong.  Jesus says, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there…first go and be reconciled to your brother.” (Matthew 5:23-24)  Too many people, even when they know they are in the wrong, fail to make it right.  Many conflicts could easily be resolved by coming and saying a heartfelt, unqualified “sorry.”
  2. When I believe I have been wronged.  If we think we have been wronged and that it needs to be worked through for the relationship to be healthy, go and work through it.  Don’t go talking to everyone else about it.  Go to the person with whom you have become crossways.
  3. When I am not sure what is wrong.  This can happen a lot.  You are not really sure what has gone wrong, but you know it is something.  It is good to meet with the person to ask if something is wrong.

Principle #4:  Humility is a necessity.  Don’t expect relational conflicts to resolve without a humble demeanor.  Arrogance and self-righteousness causes the other person to put up defenses.  When we fail to be humble, often we miss just how much we might have contributed to the issue at hand.

Do these three things to approach the issue with a humble spirit…

  1. Do a self exam.  Jesus says we are to “get the plank out of our own eye.”  So often we are a part of the problem.  Take an honest look at yourself and the part you played in the relationship that is currently hurting.  Sometimes the opening line of a meeting to work through conflict can be, “I have seen that I have contributed to your frustration.  I am sorry about that and wanted to talk it over with you.
  2. Choose not to be easily offended.  Assume the best from people.  Rarely do people seriously seek to hurt those around them.  Sometimes it is very unintentional.  Cut some slack and try not to take everything personally.
  3. Put yourself in their shoes.  Maybe you are upset with them, but what if you were in their situation.  Think about it.  Sometimes that will provide just the insight you need to feel better about the situation and give you the empathy you need to forgive them.

Principle #5:  Communicate for clarity.  There could be a lot more said here.  I will write about it in future posts.  But suffice it to say you have to share your thoughts, perceptions, concerns, hurts, fears, and wants.  It is the only way to be understood and eventual work through the issues that have you in conflict.

Question:  Do you have other principles for conflict resolution that have helped you.  Share it with us.  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

When I was a boy, I didn’t grow up with Christian instruction.  I knew nothing of God’s eternal plan for us and didn’t know about heaven.

Focus on the Destination

Focus on the Destination

 

I had no Bible knowledge about the afterlife.  Heaven was a mystery to me and hell was just a word my parents used when mad.  So I figured, when you died, that was it.  Your body went stiff, they stuck you in a box, put you in a hole, and dumped six feet of earth on top.  I thought you were dead, unconscious, and that was it.

Yet I could not imagine being without consciousness.  So in my child’s brain, when I thought of death, all I could imagine was being aware that I was stuck in that box, six feet under, in that hole forever.  I was terrified.  I simply could not imagine non-existence.

Why couldn’t I conceive of non-existence?  God had set eternity in my heart.  The Bible says, “He has…set eternity in the hearts of men.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)  We have an in born expectation that our souls go on.  The grave is not the end of our story.  There is more.

People long for what they have lost.  Read the first three chapters of the Bible (Genesis 1-3) and you will see that God made the world good, without death.  Death came as a result of sin.  Since then the creation has not been the same.  Deep in our souls we long for that paradise lost.

The good news is that in Jesus we ultimately gain back what was lost to the sin that brought death.  Jesus, God’s perfect and sinless Son, took our sin on the cross, paid for it and rose again to life.  Because of this, those who trust in Christ are redeemed to God and will ultimately experience the fullness of their salvation in heaven.

When you accept Christ and have the assurance that you will be in heaven with God forever, it has huge impact on your day to day life.  Some people say things like, “She is so heavenly minded that she is no earthly good.”  But is that true?

The argument I make is that we are not heavenly minded enough as Christians.  We need to think on heaven more.  We need to remember we are merely passing through this sin-scared life on the way to a culmination of God’s plan that is every bit heavenly.

When we focus on heaven it can have great power over how we experience our day to day life.

I loved teaching my kids how to ride their bikes without training wheels.  But when I did, there was a challenge.  The hardest thing was to help them overcome the fear of crashing.  They would often fear mailboxes along the sidewalk as if the posts were going to jump out and hit them.

The problem was, instead of focusing on the destination down the walkway, they would fearfully focus on the mailbox.  And guess what.  They would hit it every time.  They always drove the bike toward their focus.

But when they learned to focus on the destination, they avoided the crashes.  They were able to ride the straight and narrow path without fear.  They pedaled forward with confidence.

Riding a bike and living with heaven in your sights is much the same.  Without heaven in your sights there are a lot of fearful distractions and alluring temptations to pull your focus and drive you into a post.  The fear of death, anxiety over money, the desire for achievement, lust of the flesh, greed, pride, all demand our attention as we pedal on down the sidewalk of righteousness.

So I challenge you, live with heaven in your sights.  Don’t focus on the fears and distractions that would pull you off of God’s path.  Remember that your life is meant for heaven and that nothing that we face on this earth can rob that from us.

Question:  How has the truth of God’s promise of heaven encouraged you to keep on pedaling through life’s challenges.  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

It was on a cold winter’s day, in the privacy of my home study and I was complaining to God about my daughter’s stunted spiritual development.

Spiritual Parenting

Spiritual Parenting

“Lord,” I cried.  “Before her baptism three months ago, every day she seemed more curious about you.  She had a spiritual hunger, an incessant interest in the things of God.  But now, O’ Lord, she just seems stuck.  The curiosity has subsided; the desire to learn new spiritual things has waned.  Please do something in her life, send someone to help her move further along on her spiritual journey with you.”

It was then that it hit me, as if God had wacked me on the crown and woke me from my stupor.  I didn’t hear an audible voice, but the impression the Lord gave me was clear.  I sensed him ask me a question.

Without doubt, I was certain he was speaking to my spirit.  He was asking, “Greg, who did I establish as spiritual leader of your home?  Who will I ultimately hold responsible for the spiritual guidance your children receive?”

I responded, “Me, Lord.”

It was in that moment that my prayer changed.  I now could see God had already, long before, answered my original appeal to him.  He had sent my daughter someone who was given the task of shepherding her soul God-ward, someone who would inspire her with his example and instruct her with his testimony.

I was that person, the answer to my own prayer.

Do you have children?  If you do, it is the same for you.  God has already placed you in the life of your child to lead them spiritually.

You are the chosen one to introduce them to the God who gives them a redeemed identity and sets them on a course to fulfill their divinely given mission.  The task of leaving a spiritual legacy has been given to you.

And let’s be clear on what is at stake.  If you don’t lead your child, someone else will.  You might not like where they lead them.  If you do not lead them to discover the Lord’s ways, the culture will gladly help them define their identity by the perspective of this fallen world.

In fact, they will gladly shape the identity of your child for as shallow a reason as to obligate them to their company’s product brand.  If you don’t help them set their sails in the direction of the God-ward seas, they will most certainly sink deep in the lonely bay of godless sin. (Tweet That)

The spiritual direction of the next generations will be largely influenced, positively or negatively, by the choices you make with your spiritual leadership at home.  How you lead will profoundly shape your family tree for generations to come.

Parents!  We build homes, careers, and organizations that advance causes.  We build portfolios, construct companies, develop cities, and erect monuments.  But are we building a generation to follow us?  Are we leaving a legacy that will empower our sons and daughters to rise up and shape the next century for the glory of God?

Are we growing in our relationship with God ourselves and sharing that growing faith with our children?  The need for spiritual parenting has never been greater.  Won’t you devote yourself to this God-given task?

Question:  What will you do, starting now, to begin sharing your faith in God with your kids?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

When your soul trembles before the infinite holiness of God, you are changed.  You experience “Holy Tremors.”  In previous weeks I have written on the powerful spiritual impact an awareness of God’s greatness has on our spiritual experience.   If you have not read those posts I encourage you to read The Power Of Living In Awe Of God and Five Things That Happen When You Experience God’s Greatness.

God's Holiness

God’s Holiness

Here I will build on those previous posts by explaining…

Four Things That an Experience of God’s Holiness Compels us to Do…

1. Urgently repent of sin.  When Isaiah encountered the Holy Presence of God he cried out, “Woe to me!…I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)  When he experienced God’s greatness, Isaiah could not escape the truth of his own sinfulness.  He was compelled to confess that sin and flee from it.

Recently I read the entire Bible through in just 6-weeks.  Never before had I done this.  As I read chapter after chapter of God’s revealed holiness throughout history, I was overwhelmed.  I could not escape my own sin and was compelled to confess the many ways I miss God’s mark.

The great news of repentance is the promise of God’s refreshing grace. (Acts 3:19)  For Isaiah, his confession was met with God’s mercy as a coal from the alter was applied to his lips symbolic of the fact that God had provided atonement.  When we experience God’s holiness, we tremble, we are shaken from our love for sin, and gloriously we encounter God’s forgiving grace.

2. Assume a posture of reverence.  In Isaiah’s encounter we see the angelic beings, seraphs, in a constant posture of reverence before God.  The Bible says, “with two wings they covered their faces.” (Isaiah 6:2)  These angelic beings were keenly aware of God’s greatness and understood their place before his divinity.  Because of this they continually experienced the power of being in the presence of the One who is “Holy, holy, holy.” (Isaiah 6:3)

Why do we not experience more of God?  We do not treat him with reverence and awe.  We bring him down to our level.  We try to make him our “good buddy.”  But he is not that.  He is the LORD!  If you experience him in his power you cannot help but choose a posture of awe.  O’ that we would live with a continuous commitment to reverence everything that is of God.

3. Position for service.  Before God’s greatness, Isaiah reported to duty.  He speaks to God offering him his very life.  He says those famous words that we should all offer to the Lord, “Here am I.  Send me!”  (Isaiah 6:8)

This is so wonderful.  Encountering the God infinitely greater than you opens up the door for your significance.  When you truly reverence God, it becomes the passion of your life to serve him.  Nothing is more powerful than to surrender to the service of the Great God who created you and has history in his hands.

Today, would you dare to look to the heavens and say, “Here am I.  Send me!

4. Proclaim God’s Greatness.  The seraphs were unashamedly calling to each other about the greatness of God.  Isaiah begged to be sent out to proclaim that greatness to a culture that did not acknowledge God in reverence.  Why?  Because the greatness of God consumed the passion of these servants of the Lord.  O’ that this would become our motivation to proclaim the message of the Christ.  O’ that we would be compelled to proclaim his greatness to our children, neighbors, and the nations.

Experiencing “Holy Tremors” compels us to repent of sin, revere God in all things, position ourselves for service, and proclaim God’s Majesty.  May we become a people who tremble before God’s thunderous power.

Question:  What has an experience of God’s greatness compelled you to do with your life?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Jesus gave us the Golden Rule, yes to live by, but more specifically to love by.  He commanded, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12, NIV)

Golden Rule

Golden Rule

This is probably the most famous command Jesus ever gave.  His Sermon on the Mount reaches its high point in this verse.  This is a rule about loving someone in the ways we would hope others would love us.

Let’s be clear, when we love like Jesus commanded, relationships are better.  When relationships are better, life is better.  So let’s look at five ways to love by, the Golden Rule…

  1. Forgive as you wish to be forgiven.  Jesus taught us to pray this prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)  The highest form of love is to forgive a grievance.  The greatest expression of this forgiveness, the act that made forgiveness permissible, was Christ’s willing sacrifice on the cross to pay for our sins and secure our forgiveness before God.  Colossians 3:13 says, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”  God has forgiven you.  Why?  Because he loves you.  How do you love your spouse, you children, your co-worker or boss, that fellow student?  You forgive them when their words or actions hurt you.
  2. Help as you wish to be helped.  Colossians 3:13 says, “Bear with each other.”  Love is translated by action.  When you see someone with a need, fill it.  It could be as simple as taking out the trash when you see the can full or helping your child tie her shoe.  But it could also involve more, like supporting a spouse as they go back to school for continuing education.  This can be expressed at work as you help someone with a project or at school as you help someone pick up the books they dropped in the hall.
  3. Encourage as you wish to be encouraged.  Hebrews 3:13 says, “But encourage one another daily.”  We want others to encourage us, to believe that we could become all that God made us to be.  We want this from others, so Jesus says, “Give it to others.”  People want to be encouraged.  The world is filled with people who want to be more for God, but who are discouraged and in need of encouragement.  Ben Franklin once said, “Most men die from the neck up at age twenty-five because they stop dreaming.”  Let’s not let those around us give up on the dreams God gives.  Let’s encourage them with our words and support.
  4. Understand as you wish to be understood.  Recently I learned of a friend who got in a lot of trouble because of a sin in his life.  My first thought, “how could they do that?!”  But then God reminded me, that though I have never been in trouble like that, I have had sinful inclinations and have the same capacity for failure in my life.  It is only by the Grace of God that I have thus far gone a different path.  Jesus said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone.” (John 8:7)  When I am more understanding I am humble and able to love with greater compassion.  Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and love them as you would wish to be loved in the same situation.
  5. Look for things to do to lift and bless those around you.  Philippians 2:4 says, “look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  Make it your mission in life to scout out ways you can lift and bless people you know and meet.  Wake up each day asking God to use you to bless someone else with something good.  Live your life outside yourself.  If you do this, you will become a powerfully loving person that attracts people to you.

The Golden Rule is all about love.  Live by it and your life will become richer.

 

Question:  How can loving in obedience to the Golden Rule bring greater satisfaction to your own life?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Praying is to our relationship with God what breathing is to living in our bodies.  You do not breathe once in a while.  If you did, you’d die.

Prayer

Prayer

We breathe continually and we must do the same with prayer.  God is our life and praying is to invite the Lord into the core of our lives.

For many people, prayer is like their AAA card.  They don’t really plan on using it, just in the case of emergencies.  Or for some, prayer is like a spare tire…

Recently, I was traveling across the country in a van I had purchased a couple of years before.  On the way one of the tires blew out.  There I was along the road, in need of a spare.  I looked in the back hatch.  No spare.  I looked in the storage compartments in the floor.  No spare.  Finally, I read the owner’s manual and discovered the tire was stored under the van.  Before that time, I never bothered to learn where the spare tire was stored.

Is that like you?  Is prayer something that you save for emergencies, but never actually practice enough to know how to do it?  God doesn’t want you to be passive about praying.  He wants you to be active and continuous in your communion with him.

Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)  Jesus is showing us three actions we are to take to actively pursue the involvement of God in your life.

  1. “Ask” for God’s involvement.  Don’t expect anything from God, if you don’t ask him.  Bring him the things that are little and large.  I shake my head when I hear people say they only bring the big things to God.  As if God is too busy or cares too little to be involved in the small things.  The truth is, to God, all things you bring him are small.  We think they are big things, but God is infinitely more powerful than any problem we might face.
  2. “Seek” for God’s activity.  After asking for God’s wisdom, or help, or guidance, start looking to find ways God is answering your prayers.  Recently I asked God to bring a renewal to both my prayer life and level of ministry passion.  Immediately, I started looking around me for the things God might be sending me to encourage me in these areas.  I was blessed to find things in my life that did just that.  Don’t just ask, look as well.  God is already at work around you.
  3. “Knock” on doors of opportunity.  Especially when you are asking God to lead you to the right opportunities, be sure to explore the possible opportunities before you.  Are you asking God to use you in the lives of others?   Look around to see if there are people around you that you can help.  Then when you see someone you might benefit, venture to them and see if there is an open door.  If you are praying for a new job, knock on some doors to see if anything opens that is meant for you.

Active praying is beautiful.  It recognizes that God is an active God and loves to interact in your life.  Ask the Lord about everything, look around to see what God is up to in your life, and test every possible opportunity to see if God has something there for you.

When you pray actively, life is an adventure.

Question:  What are some active prayers you will be praying in the days to come?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I had led our people to achieve something truly big, everyone was celebrating the victory.  On the outside I celebrated as well.  But inside I was tired, lonely, fatigued, and struggled with a sense of failure.  I was depressed.

Depression

Depression

These kinds of emotions can touch any Christian leader, whether that leadership is in business, education, government, or the church.  Consider the example of Elijah.

Elijah was a great prophet who spoke God’s Word in perilous times.  The King and Queen had led the people away from their faith in the One True God into an idolatrous worship of a false god.  They had persecuted and killed the LORD’s prophets.  Elijah challenged the religious leaders of the false god to a showdown.

Two sacrifices were offered, one to the false god and one to the LORD.  Elijah said the one who consumes the sacrifice by fire is the true God.   As you would expect the false god did not consume the offering, but the LORD did.  The people shouted, “The LORD—he is God!” (1 Kings 18:39)  Elijah’s faith was vindicated and his cause gained the victory.

You would think Elijah would be jubilant.  He was not.  The Queen, upset about her defeat, threatened to kill Elijah.  The prophet ran for his life.  He ran and ran, collapsed under a tree and prayed that he might die.  He went from celebration to depression.

Elijah had experienced four conditions that can trigger depression in a leader.

What are those conditions?

  1. A victory achieved.  Elijah had experienced a victory.  It seems counter-intuitive to think that he would be down after that.  But this is typical.  Often times we can have a let-down after an achievement.  We dream of hitting the pinnacle of success, we dream and dream.  But then we reach the pinnacle and we say to ourselves, “Is this it?  What do I do now?”  Have you ever felt this let-down after completing something important?  It’s normal.
  2. A failure perceived.  Sure Elijah had seen God bring the victory.  But with the Queen threatening his life, it was obvious many in Israel were still living in rebellion to God.  Elijah’s mission was to point the people to God.  So he felt like a failure.  We can always find something to focus on in our lives that can make us feel like we failed.  When I was depressed after a great victory, I focused on the opportunities I had missed or the things yet to be achieved.
  3. A loneliness that goes unrelieved.  Elijah had reasons to feel alone for a long time.  For years he felt like a lone voice in the wilderness and now he was alone, running for his life.  When we are lonely we can easily struggle with our faith, and if it is severe we can even despair of life.  Leadership always has a touch of loneliness attached to it.  But we must never allow ourselves to pull away from community and deep friendships.  We must have caring people to talk to and lean on.  I do not know what I would have done without such people in my life at times when I was down.
  4. A pace that results in growing fatigued.  The prophet had been on a relentless ministry run for years.  He had spoken God’s Word, confronted the King, challenged the followers of a false god, and run for his life.  He was tired.  It was Vince Lombardi who said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”  When you get tired, for long enough, your will, your faith, can falter.  It is so important that you take care of yourself, get rest, eat right, and find godly ways to meet your emotional needs.

Knowing that these conditions can trigger depression in a leader is the first step in heading things off at the pass.

Question:  How can being aware of these triggers help you navigate through the down times in leadership?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.