True leadership isn’t about being large and in charge. It’s about modeling character, pointing others to the ultimate destination, and being the first to sacrifice for the good of the whole.
Posts Tagged ‘destination’
Thought for the Day – Large & In Charge
Posted in Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged character, destination, in charge, leadership, sacrifice on December 13, 2023| 1 Comment »
Destination
Posted in Commentaries, tagged circumstance, destination, destiny, Journey, navigation, obstacle, ride, rudder, sail, sailing, sailor, storm, transformation on June 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Life is not a ride, it’s a journey. A ride consists of being carried along to wherever the vehicle happens to be headed, while a journey has an ultimate destination, which requires navigation and effort to complete.
One who sails for pleasure doesn’t concern themselves with what direction the wind is blowing, or where the rudder is pointed, as long as their sail is full. They rarely stray far from the shore, and will avoid a storm at all costs. At the end of the day, success is judged by the strength of the wind, and the smoothness of the seas, both of which are completely out of our control.
For those who choose the journey, it is very different. It is not so much about the sail as it is the rudder, and the compass. Though such a sailor revels in those times when the sail is up and inflated, they understand that they must discern the wind and pull the sail down amidst unfavorable breezes.
They also understand that in order to reach their ultimate landing spot they will have to pass through some rough waters. In those times they just hold fast to the rudder and keep the ship pointed toward the eventual goal. For such a traveler, success is measured by the distance from their final destination.
Unless we purpose in our heart to be someone, or to do something, we evolve into little more than an accumulation of our experiences, both good and bad. In such cases, we tend to live life like a pinball; propelled by gravity and bouncing from one obstacle to another.
Anything worthwhile in life requires some amount of investment on our part. Those who are unwilling to make such a deposit are generally pushed along by the winds of circumstance to some uncertain end.
For the first 30 years of my life, I was essentially on a pleasure cruise, looking for that next exhilarating ride. But a few decades ago, I began to recognize that I was created for something more. Indeed, I had a purpose, and a destiny. And the further I have travelled, the more I comprehend the importance of the journey itself.
At some point, I stopped referencing the past (i.e. where I came from, who I’ve been, what I’ve experienced, what I think I know…) for my identity, and started looking to my Creator for that understanding. He reminded me that before I was in my mother’s womb, He knew me (Jer.1:5), which means that I’m more than simply a byproduct of my DNA, or my heredity, or my upbringing…
And as I found myself pondering who God intended me to be, He reminded me that it was someone who looked a lot like His Son (Rom.8:29), which told me that the transformation process was going to be dramatic; since who I’d been up to that point hadn’t really resembled Him at all.
As I prayed for Him to complete the good work He’d begun in me, the Lord gave me a glimpse of the road ahead (i.e. coordinates to chart a course for). He highlighted the characteristics He’s ordained for me, like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal.5:22-23). He spoke to my demeanor in the midst struggle, exhorting me to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger (James 1:19). And He gave me a focal point to keep my eyes fixed on (Heb.12:2), while warning me not to be distracted by the squalls that inevitably come (2Cor.4:18).
On the surface, it all seemed pretty simple. Nothing I didn’t already know. Nothing I couldn’t enthusiastically say, “Amen” to. But the walking it out has proven to be a daily battle. We can know all this, agree with it in principle, and unconsciously live as though none of it is true. Everything in our human nature pushes us the other way. Unless we make a conscious effort to participate in the divine nature (2Pet.1:4), we stay mired in the same fruitless pattern.
It’s so easy to wake up tired, agitated and sore. To dread all the things that need to be done in the course of a day. To interpret a stubbed toe, or spilled coffee as some sort of prophetic declaration about the state of our lives. To anxiously listen to the dire reports in the news, and to curse at the lunatics who almost hit us because they’re on their phones.
We can spend the day reacting to people and situations that wring every bit of goodwill out of us, and come home growling at the people we claim to love the most. And we can sing heavenly worship songs in Sunday service, only to return to this miserable cycle on Monday morning.
The antithesis of this is to begin each day with an invitation to the Holy Spirit to rise up and to do His blessed work in our lives. To make a genuine connection to the Giver of Life, and to seek His direction and priority for the day. To guard our heart and mind (Prov.4:23 & Phil.4:7) as we step out into the world, and to ask for God’s heart for every person we interact with (John 13:34).
When situations rise up, and anxious moments occur, we need to take the time to regain an eternal perspective before responding and/or acting. And we need to be as interested in reflecting Christ’s character to our own family as we are with reaching out to strangers.
More practically, it means surrendering thoughts like, “how does this make me feel?” or “want do I want?”, in favor of thoughts like, “how do you see this Lord?” and “what do you desire?”. It includes avoiding the temptation to immerse ourselves in people and situations that God isn’t calling us to, or to wrestle with issues that He hasn’t given us any dominion over (e.g. almost all geo-political disputes), so that we can be available for the people He’s placed directly in our path.
For those with a westernized religious sensibility, all of this might seem a bit radical, after all, can’t we make it to heaven if we just “believe”. But I would submit that the first step to sharing in His resurrection life, is taking up a cross daily, and following Him. To that end, I believe that this is what dying to self looks like. It is readily forfeiting your will to do what seems right in your own eyes (Prov.14:12) in favor of doing the will of the Father (John 5:19).
If our association with Christ is little more than a hedge against the fires of hell, this probably seems excessive. But if we truly love Him, and wish to serve Him, this is a pathway to His glory (Col.1:27). The fulfillment of our destiny isn’t really about what we will accomplish in His name, it’s about becoming the person He created us to be. If we exercise our freedom to become someone other than that, He can rightfully say, “I never knew you” (Matt.7:23).
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Thought for the Day – Destination / Destiny
Posted in Thought for the Day / Quotes, tagged destination, destiny on August 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Eventually you begin to realize that the journey isn’t as much about the destination as it is about the destiny, and it’s not as much about the place you’re going as it is about who you’re going with.
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A Change of Heart
Posted in Commentaries, tagged chameleon, change, change of heart, change of mind, changed mind, circumstance, defile, destination, external condition, internal condition, lost, repentence on December 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
There was a long season of my life in which I was profoundly lost. That term can mean different things to different people, but for me, it meant that I was lost as to the meaning of life, as to what my purpose was, and as to who I was meant to be. Like most people in that condition, I would not have used the word “lost” to describe myself, but clearly that was the case.
Because of this, I tended to be a chameleon, who completely changed depending on who I was with. Despite a strict religious upbringing, I found myself amazingly open to things that I’d been taught were wrong, with seemingly little impact on my conscience. I attribute this to my unconscious desperation to find a place and/or tribe where I fit in.
The longer I wandered in this state of being, the more confused I became. If you hang around a chameleon long enough, you begin to realize that you have no idea what their natural color is. And even the chameleon himself will eventually lose touch with that reality. In those days, I could look in the mirror and not recognize the face that was staring back at me.
One morning, after a long night of debauchery, I had the sudden and strong urge to change the course of my life, and I went to the local Recruiting Office to join the military. The decision to enlist in the Navy shocked everyone who knew me, and on some level, no one was more surprised than me.
If you had asked me a day earlier, that idea was nowhere on my radar. Yet, within a matter of days, my head was shaved, and I was getting screamed at by some crazed Drill Sergeant in North Chicago. Life, as I had known it, would never be the same.
At the time, I reasoned I just needed a change of scenery, and to get around some different people. And it is tempting to conclude that this was what ultimately changed my course, but with the benefit of hindsight, I realize that it wasn’t the change in circumstances that drove the change in my mindset.
The reality is that the “sudden and strong urge to change” came from a moment of clarity, in which I recognized that the life I was leading was unsustainable. After years of being whatever I needed to be so as to function within the group dynamic, I realized that I needed to pick a specific direction, and then start walking toward something. That revelation spurred a change in my thinking, and that change of mind drove the change in course.
I clearly had no idea of where I was going, or as to how I would handle this new reality, but I was utterly convinced of my need to change. If I hadn’t been, I likely would have quit at the first obstacle on my new path, and returned to the life I abandoned. But it was clear to me that there was no going back.
This is significant because of our very human tendency to focus on external factors (i.e. circumstances), most of which we cannot control, while ignoring the internal conditions of our being (i.e. mind, will, emotions), which are within our reach. Indeed, I have concluded that true, substantive change always begins with an internal shift (i.e. a changed mind, a changed heart).
Beyond the practical implications of this concept are the spiritual principles that lie beneath it. Scripture tells us that God doesn’t see us as we see each other (i.e. externally), He looks at the heart of a man (i.e. internally) – (1 Sam.16:7). It also warns us to guard our hearts above all else, because “everything you do flows from it” (Pro.4:23). Jesus went so far as to say, “Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them (Mark 7:15-16).”
Though we are prone to point to external factors (e.g. people, situations…) as a way to justify the poor condition of our hearts, the scripture would suggest that these external factors are to some extent a result of the condition of our hearts. If this is true, the first step in changing our situation, is changing our own mind and/or heart. This is why “self-control” is considered a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:23).
I would submit that one of the reasons we struggle to hear God’s voice in the midst of turmoil is that we are focused on Him making a change to our external condition, and He is focused on making a change to our internal condition.
The scripture clearly points to the need for, and the power of repentance, which is ultimately a change of heart, mind, direction… John the Baptist challenged the authenticity of the Pharisees and Sadducees authority by demanding that they, “produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt.3:8).” He understood that without a genuine change of mind/heart, it didn’t matter how they dressed or who they hung out with.
We will know that our repentance is genuine when we arrive at some new destination. I can meet my neighbor half way around the block, and claim that I’m not where I was yesterday, but if I keep returning to the same address, there has been no real change
We live in society that is obsessed with outward appearances, and we often fall into the trap of believing that some type of external change (e.g. if I was rich, if I was famous, if I found the right person, if I lost 100lbs, if my candidate wins the election…) will bring about a change in our hearts, but it never really works like that. The shift must come from within, and the first step belongs to us.
Indeed, God promises that if we’ll take a step towards Him, He will take a step towards us (James 4:8).
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