I am an idea thief. I am very good at taking someone else’s bright idea and applying it to my own business, my parenting practices, or even my hobbies. There are many ways I do this, but one of the main ways is simply finding those who are successful and mimicking their practices. Obtaining godly counsel from others who have proven track records is a skill that all leaders need to learn.
Why is it that we are so quick to think we know what is going on in a particular situation when we really don’t have the whole story? Why do we so often jump to conclusions about someone’s actions or behavior when our perspective is clearly limited? How is this related to our relationship with (and faith in) God?
So many things happen in our world today and we are often very quick to assume we know the whole story, including others’ motivations, circumstances, and intent. The truth is that we know very little about these things just by looking at a picture or video on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Mike Tyson was once quoted as saying, “Everyone has a plan ’til they get punched in the mouth.” While I am not a Tyson fan, I do think his quote should get our attention. Our “plan” to define success as hearing Jesus say, “Well done” is one thing. Living it out when there are difficult circumstances…that’s a different story.
As followers of Jesus, we often look around at the culture in which we live and wonder how it has become this bad. We look at poor leadership at whatever level – whether in our businesses, community, or even in the nation overall – and we wish for better. We wonder what it would be like if our leaders also followed Jesus.
In my last post, I talked about how we should behave when working in an environment where the open sharing of our Christian faith is either limited or even prohibited altogether. We looked at the example of David in 1 Samuel 24:1-7 to see how he handled remaining under Saul’s authority as king, even though he had been anointed to follow Saul as king.
Today, I want us to think about the various reasons that God may have for leaving Saul in authority as long as He did. Have you ever thought about that?
If you have been in business long, you have likely found yourself in a weak position from time to time. Maybe key personnel left for other opportunities or a new competitor came onto the scene. Whatever the case, you knew your organization was vulnerable.
What if God asked you to do something right then that could potentially wreck your fragile situation? Would obedience be easy for you?
Years ago, I had a key, long-term member of our company’s executive leadership team come to me and resign. His reasons were valid and I supported his decision even though I did not want him to leave.
When I say, “First Love”, what is the first thing to come to mind? If you are like most people, your mind goes back to high school and that first love or first kiss. For others, a certain type of food comes to mind! There are even those who think of their first car! Whatever the case, almost everyone has some clear association with the phrase “First Love”.
In my last post, I talked about how I had read a passage from Revelation that resonated with me – up to a point. Jesus was praising the church at Ephesus for their works, labor, and endurance.
But then He turned and criticized them severely for forgetting their first love (Him!). Evidently, this church was doing good works, but their motives were out of whack. As I began to assess my own motives, I realized there was definitely room for improvement!
This is not the first time you have heard this question. It will not be the last. I guess the real question is whether you can quickly answer it or not. If you are given no time to think about it or wordsmith a response, how would you answer the question, “Why do you get out of bed?”
Obviously, there is a lot more depth to this question than meets the eye. This question demands more than a shallow, off-the-cuff answer. This question is not really about getting out of bed at all.
Instead, this question really drives at what drives you.
Maybe it is the material I am choosing to read. It could be the kind of people I am around these days. Whatever the case, I am hearing more and more about life plans and finding a “calling” from God. I wonder if there might be a serious problem in these discussions that too many people are missing?
First of all, I do not want anyone to think I believe life plans are bad! I have one myself that I tweak and clarify every year. I have written a great deal about being intentional in living out or lives for eternal impact. A solid life plan can be a great tool in this process.
You are a Christian business owner or leader and you are suddenly confronted with an ugly truth about your business. It appears there is “sin in the camp” and you are not sure how to deal with it. You want to do the right thing, but that is not always easy to determine. How do you deal with it?
In the book of Joshua, chapters 6-7, we read about Joshua leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. First, there is the miraculous defeat of the mighty city of Jericho. Spirits among the Israelites are high until they are subsequently defeated by a much weaker city of Ai. What happened? Why the reversal of fortune?
It turns out someone among the Israelites had broken the covenant God had made with them during the attack on Jericho. As a result, God left them to their own against Ai and they were sorely defeated. Now, the morale of the people has fallen and they are scared to death.
Joshua is the (fortunate?) one that God has given the task of replacing Moses as leader of the Israelites – a TOUGH job! How does he handle this similar situation? What can we learn from him?
I encourage you to read the whole account on your own, beginning with Joshua 6:1 and ending with Joshua 7:26. There is much more to learn from this passage, but I have broken Joshua’s actions into the following 6 steps that I believe we can apply to our current business challenges.
There is no grey area in Joshua’s instructions to the Israelites prior to the attack on Jericho. In Joshua 6:17-19, he clearly tells them what is to be done with the city, its inhabitants, and and everything in it once the city is in their hands. The sin that followed was not due to misunderstanding!
We must do the same in our businesses. It is our responsibility as the leaders to make sure the rules and expectations are clear to everyone. New hires must receive clear instruction regarding your policies or they cannot be held accountable to them. Everyone must know our guidelines if we expect them to comply!
Joshua did not receive instruction from God and then run off on his own to carry it out. He remained close to God. As soon as he learned of the defeat at Ai, Joshua fell before God in submission (Joshua 7:6-10). He did not know the reason for the defeat, but he knew he had to seek God first. God answered by telling Joshua there was sin in the camp.
Our response must be similar. Don’t get caught up in the fact that Joshua had such an obvious defeat that clued him in to the trouble. Instead, recognize that Joshua had remained so close in his walk with God that his very first reaction was to seek God’s face.
Joshua did not question his general about strategy or even question his own decision to send a smaller force of 3,000 men. He went straight to God as an instinctive reaction. If we are in close communion with God, our instincts will be similar.
In Joshua 7:10-12, God tells Joshua about the sin in the camp. He makes it clear that He will no longer be with the Israelites unless the sin is removed. At this point, Joshua does not hesitate. He does not look for other options. He acts decisively when he delivers the instructions to the Israelites (vv. 13-15).
I don’t know what Joshua could have feared when making this decision, but I know how these kinds of decisions have affected me. When I have caught wind of impropriety in our business, fear has often flooded my mind. Will an investigation lead to a top performer? Will I be forced to terminate someone that is critical to our success?
Joshua may have had similar fears, but he acted anyway. He trusted that his provision was only from God. We must have the same trust in God. If the removal of sin in the camp causes the loss of a top performer, then we have to trust that God will make up the difference. He is faithful.
In my next post, we will cover the final 3 steps for dealing with sin in the camp. I hope that you can see the business application of this passage. Again, I encourage you to read it on your own and see how it speaks to you. I think you might be surprised at what you find!
Have you experienced sin in the camp with your business?
How did you deal with it?
What would you do differently next time?
There have been many times in my career when I sought God for answers. I needed wisdom for choices I faced. Sometimes, He seemed to answer me in a very clear way. Other times were not as clear and it took much prayer for me to discern the direction He was giving me. And then there are those times when God is silent. I used to hate those times!
Have you ever experienced times when God is silent in responding to your prayers? Maybe you were facing a huge business decision with enormous consequences and you needed His wisdom more than anything. You could have been mulling a difficult choice between career moves or candidates to hire.
Your decision might have been as simple as choosing office locations or the wording on your resume. Whatever the case, we have all likely experienced times when we felt we really needed to hear from God, but He did not respond. This is especially tough for those who have received clear answers from Him at other times!
Have you ever wondered WHY God is silent? Have you experienced periods of self-doubt when you wondered if He even cared about you? Have you questioned whether He was interested in your struggle anymore? Have you fought these thoughts until you could no longer fight, giving up in the process?
Well, I have been here and lived to tell about it. If you are like me, you answered yes to at least one of the questions above. If that is the case, I have some good news for you…God loves you! He IS interested in you! He loves you more than you can imagine! He wants you to stop fighting and relax.
God is not sitting on His throne laughing at your struggle. He is not too busy to help. He has not forgotten you or your struggle. Instead, there are other, legitimate reasons that might explain why God is silent in response to some of your prayers. Knowing these possible reasons has made it so much easier for me to handle it when God is silent.
However, the following five reasons are not exclusive. There are likely more reasons God is silent, but these should cover the majority of your situations. I do not promise that your specific situation falls into one of these categories, but I encourage you to pray through them to see if it does.
There are many times in the Bible when one of God’s people was facing circumstances that drove them to prayer. In some of these cases, God is silent for a time. It might be years later before He answers and gives them direction in their specific situation.
In these cases, His answer was simply delayed because circumstances were not yet ready for His perfect timing. It is not our place to question His timing. We are only to trust Him in this. If we are faithful to wait, He will answer when the time is right.
There are two different ways that this reason can apply. First, if you are asking Him to help you with a question that He has already answered in His Word, then you should not be surprised at His silence.
Too often, we want to skip reading the directions and jump immediately to the help line! We should read and study His Word to the extent that we are not constantly asking for help He has already provided.
Other times, we actually go back to God for answers that He has already shown us on previous occasions. Maybe we have forgotten these answers or maybe we are hoping for a different answer! Whatever the case, He might remain silent until we realize His answer will not change.
This is one that I really struggled with. There was a time in my walk when I felt God was giving me step-by-step directions for the path I was to take. I followed in faith and expected those clear directions to continue.
When I faced new choices, I expected more step-by-step directions. When they did not come, I got very frustrated. Then I read how Paul described those Christians that were still feeding on milk when they should be maturing to eat solid food (Hebrews 5:12-13).
It could be that God is silent in your current situation because He is helping you to develop your decision-making muscles. He is trying to help you along in the maturing process.
Don’t fight it! Consider all He has shown you along the way and make the best choice you can. He is faithful to walk with you through the process and give you strength as needed.
This reason is difficult as well. It is hard because we are so often blind to our own sin. Unfortunately, God is not. He has provided a way for us to get rid of it (through forgiveness based on Christ’s blood and our repentance).
However, if we are blind to the sin or enamored with it to the point of clinging to it, then we are not going to be heard in our prayer. If God is silent with you, pray instead that He would reveal to you any sin that is between you and Him. Then repent of this and move forward in relationship with Him!
Before you jump, hear me out! Clearly, this reason is not what it seems at first. Sure, God cares about you and the decision you are facing! What I mean instead is that maybe He is giving YOU the choice.
God has given us free will and an unbelievable life to experience. In some cases, I believe He simply wants you and me to decide for ourselves which way we would rather go. Either choice is fine with Him!
If both choices line up with Scripture and pass THIS TEST from my previous post, then you might just be free to take either path with God’s blessing! Don’t let the freedom scare you – embrace it!
Have you experienced His silence?
How did you react? What were your thoughts?
Do any of these reasons for His silence help to ease your mind?