Have you heard it said that leadership is lonely? I read this week a quote by ML Anderson that said “leaders are called to stand in a lonely place…”
Leadership can be lonely, but as a Christ follower, living out your call as a leader means you never lead alone. We stand with Christ by our side, having access to his love, guidance and LEADING.
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8
God is speaking…
Are we listening?
He wants to lead and guide us, he wants to speak to us. But so often we struggle to hear. Sometimes we are hoping that we would hear God’s booming voice loud and clear, telling us what to do.
But maybe we need to try things differently. Maybe God is speaking, but His voice is drowned out by all the noise around us.
1 Kings 19:11-13: "The Lord said, 'Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.' Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'"
We have winds of work and stress, earthquakes of hurry, fires that burn with the desire for instant answers and solutions. But God so often comes as a gentle whisper, and these things drown out His voice. We can so easily miss it if we don’t take a step back, remove the noise and listen for the whisper...
Have you ever taken time out in silence and solitude?
In his book Leading On Empty, Wayne Cordeiro says that there are only four ways to live your life:
1. Reaction – passively dominated by urgencies and pushy people
2. Conformity – succumbing to the fear of man and just being and doing what everyone else wants, which is not necessarily following God’s will for you personally
3. Independence – nonconforming rebellion in the name of freedom, marked by doing only what you want and ignoring godly authority over you
4. Intentionality – reverse-engineering your life and living it prayerfully and purposefully, journaling your thoughts throughout the day, and using silence and solitude to hear from God and organize your life
How are you living your life now? Where would you like to be?
Why not try do things differently from now on. Instead of wanting God to shout above the noise, why not try spend some time and turn off the noise and listen for the whisper...
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Don Muller has spent the last 4 years working into corporate and church leadership development and training both locally and internationally. He has a passion for and works towards seeing individuals live out their strengths and calling daily.