Whose Agenda are You On – Yours or God’s?

I was reading Luke recently and took note of a passage found in 4:42-44.  “At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place.  The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.  But he said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also because that is why I was sent.’ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”

To put this in context, the day before, Jesus had just healed Simon’s mother-in-law of the fever and healed many others as well.  So the word about Jesus was spreading like wildfire in the town where He was. It was like a wealthy man came to town handing out money and more and more people wanted to their piece of him (or more accurately, they wanted to get something from him). Yet, early the next day, Jesus got up and sought out from His Father what was on the Father’s agenda for Jesus that coming day.

But He was gaining so much notoriety in that town, surely He should have stayed to soak it all in, heal some more people, maybe get elected as the mayor of that town – after all no one else had come and made such a favorable impression.  No one else had such a positive impact on the people.  That is precisely the way many of us probably would have responded.  We may have said, “hey, it seems like I am really needed in this community – if I say for awhile, I can really do some good.” What we are really interested in is being noticed and looked up to by others.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, it is just that it is not how God wants us to decide how to spend our day!

Jesus gives us a lesson on how we should set our agenda each day.  Jesus began the day by spending time with His Father to hear what was on His Father’s heart.  That and that alone would establish His schedule for the day.  Notice what the people tried to do – “they tried to keep him from leaving them.”  They knew what a valuable person Jesus was and they didn’t want to let Him go or share Him with anyone else.  The people were focused on what they could get out of the situation.  But God had other plans and purposes. Jesus sought to see where the Father was working – that was His assignment for the day, and not what the people wanted Him to do. In the passage quoted above, Jesus said that His plans were different because He heard from His Father what was important for that day – and it wasn’t in the town where He was – it was elsewhere.

After the Resurrection, Peter and some others went fishing and were out all night. They didn’t catch anything.  Interestingly, there was no mention that they went to God beforehand to determine if that was what He wanted them to do that evening. The next morning, Jesus was on shore and after hearing that Peter didn’t catch anything, He said to drop the nets on the right side of the boat (See John 21:1-6). You remember what happened next – they caught so many fish, their nets were about to break!

Ask God each day for His revelation as to where He wants you to invest your time that day. Ask Him to let you know which side of your boat He wants you to drop the nets. Whatever you do in obedience to God’s agenda will produce far greater results that what you can possibly do on your own.

Do you seek out the Father each day and allow the Holy Spirit to set  your agenda for the day? Do you try to seek out where God is working?  Are you on the lookout for the people who may be seeking godly counsel?  Or are you too busy attending to what you think is needed to be successful today?

True Words of Wisdom

I was struck recently about the real words of wisdom in Proverbs 2.  The whole chapter contains such great advice for anyone, especially leaders.  There is a call to action, the rewards for that action are clearly spoken of, and there are clear consequences for those who do not heed the call to action.  Let me give you a few snippets:

Call to action

Verses 1-4 tell us we are called to:

• Store up the commands that will follow within you

• Turn your ear to wisdom – we have to be willing to listen to wisdom, and not just secular wisdom (especially not secular wisdom) but godly wisdom

• Apply this wisdom to your heart so you will gain understanding

• We are to call out for insight – it just doesn’t come without our calling out for it

• We are to cry aloud for understanding – this is not an tearful cry but an impassioned pleading to gain understanding

• We are to treat it as silver (valuable) and search for it as hidden treasure

Simple, yet profound truths

• The Lord gives wisdom – real, truthful wisdom does not come from any other source, despite what we may want to believe

• The Lord holds victory in store for the upright and He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless

• He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

• Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men – there are many wicked people out there, and the only way we will be saved from them is to really know wisdom that comes from one source and one source only.

Rewards for that action

• After following the call to action, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God – how awesome is that!

• After following the call to action, then you will understand what is right and just and fair

• After following the call to action, wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul

• After following the call to action, discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you

Notice that in each of these, we must take an action first before the reward comes.  I know that is contrary to our “instant gratification” and “microwave solutions” world we live in today, but it is reality.

Consequences for those who do not heed the call to action

• For not following the call to action, you will wind up being influenced by wicked people who will take you to places you don’t want to go

• For not following the call to action, you will be taken by devious people who are out for themselves, despite what they tell you

• For not following the call to action, you will be considered wicked and you will be cut off from the land, or cut off from resources you need to just survive

• For not following the call to action, you will be considered unfaithful and will be torn from the land that provides resources needed for survival.

Where do you get your wisdom from? I talked about this in an earlier post on Who Are You Listening To? As we can see, it really does matter. We must be very diligent as to whom and where we go to for answers to our questions, for advice in our problems and for guidance to live life.  As the Lord is the only source of true and real wisdom, those who desire this wisdom (which is like a hidden treasure) need to spend a lot of time listening to Him.  Leaders, are you listening to Him or to the world?

What is it I really treasure?  That depends on my motivation, interests and attention.  If my motivation, interests and attention are on obtaining and understanding the wisdom that is available to me only from God, I will spend a great deal of time there.  If my motivation, interests and attention are to obtain the comforts of this life, of the riches of this life, then I will spend a lot of time in that secular world listening to what it has to offer and implementing the techniques it claims will bring happiness and contentment.

There is so much wisdom in this book of Proverbs.  What else are you finding in it?

Who Are You Listening To?

We live in a world where leaders are constantly bombarded with messages that make big promises or guarantees.  All kinds of people and organizations are clamoring to get your attention.  If you sit back and analyze some or all of the clamoring, I bet you’d agree that it comes from people and organizations that want something from you rather than are willing to give you something.  Am I right?   The secular world is placing a tremendous amount of pressure on organizational leaders of all types to follow their leadership methods and to turn their backs on God’s methods.

As leaders committed to following a Biblical worldview and Biblical principles, we have to be careful who we are listening to for information on how to do this leadership thing better. We have to be careful where we are seeking advice to handle life’s difficult problems.  We are running the great risk of relying on the “wisdom” of the secular world instead of God’s wisdom. We can easily be led astray even by well-intentioned individuals, consultants, bosses, or other advisors who we turn to in time of need.

Consider just a few verses from Scripture:

Psalm 1 talks about man being blessed if he follows the law of the Lord and walks in the counsel of the godly. The wicked, or those who don’t follow the law of the Lord, are like chaff that the wind blows away!

Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (or discipline, depending on the translation used).

Proverbs 2 is clear about the requirement God places on us to consider carefully the sources from whom we obtain our wisdom; it spells out the consequences we will face if we fail to follow His wisdom. Consider verses 12-15:

“Discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight path to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.”

Does the description of wicked, evil, devious, perverse words remind you of the secular or worldly messages we are receiving today? You might think that I am being too harsh or exaggerating.  Yet think of the messages that focus on self, on short-term gain, on the ease of doing this or that technique, etc.  If they are not godly messages, God calls them evil, devious and wicked.

It seems to me that God is pretty clear about who He expects us to listen to and what He calls us if we listen to people who are not connected with Him and His purposes; He call them fools!  So, who are you listening to for your advice on being a leader, running a company, being a parent, or just being a friend to someone? Are you listening to God and godly people, or to fools?  Apparently, those are our only two choices.

Share with us what you do or would like to do to ensure you are listening to the right choice.

God Acts According to His Will, Not Ours

Have you ever read a devotional or other commentary on God’s Word and said, “Wow, how true is that?”  The following is a devotional that appears in the Encounters with God Daily Bible that has been written by Blackaby Ministries and published by Thomas Nelson.  I read it today, November 7th and I was struck so much that I felt I had to share it with you. I hope you will share the same “Wow” as I did and it will enable you to have more faith and trust in the place where it should be the most.

“’Let my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your word.’ (Ps. 119:170)  Maybe you have prayed to God about a particular concern but found He decided to answer your prayer differently than you had anticipated. Or perhaps His answer to your prayer did not seem like an answer at all because it looked so completely different from what you imagined it to be. God’s answer to bringing righteousness in Noah’s day was shocking (Gen 6:7). God’s answer to the prayers of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was miraculous (Dan 3:26). His intervention in the lives of Daniel (Dan 6:22), Paul and Silas (Acts 16:26) and Peter (Acts 12:7), could certainly not have been anticipated.  But each time God answered the prayers of His people, He did so according to His own plans.  As Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest and trail, ‘Not as I will, but as You will,’ our prayers should include the disclaimer that not only does God have the right to supersede our prayers, but He has the right to answer them in the way He deems best (Matt 26:39). This is where faith comes in.

“You see, our trust is in God to always act out of love and to do what is absolutely in our best interests all the time. Even when we cannot possibly comprehend what He is up to, we trust He is acting in our best interests all the time. His love for us should never be in question as that was settled on the Cross more than two thousand years ago.  What is in question is our trust in Him, that He will do what is right, just in the right time, and in the right way so that He is glorified and not us. If God always answers every prayer according to our will, He would no longer be the Master, but our servant. He answers us because of His great love for us but in a way that demonstrates that He is still the Master and we are His servants. He is not obligated to answer our prayers in the first place, but as a loving Father, He chooses to respond to us according to what is absolutely best in our situation (Luke 11:13). Thank God for His great wisdom and power and love that always works for our good all the time.”

This devotional by the Blackaby’s is such a great reminder for me.  I have had many times when I wondered if God was really listening to my prayer requests.  To me, the situation was so clear and the action I thought best for Him to do was so clear, yet there was either no response, or more likely a different response.  And always, looking back on His response, the situation, the resolution, the blessing was more than I ever thought was possible.

In your quiet time and prayer, I encourage you to reflect on the above commentary and listen for what God will tell you.

Have you had similar situations?  How has this Blackaby devotional impacted you?  Let me know.

Quiet Time and Prayer

As busy leaders, many of us spend a great deal of time in our organizations taking care of the most pressing issues of the day or week. Our calendars are full of meetings, problem solving, and seeking and responding to opportunities.  In strong growth or economic times, we are busy managing the growth and ensuring our customers or constituents are happy. In challenging economic times, we are busy trying to cut costs, preserve cash flow and go the extra mile to maintain market share and revenue.

When confronted with the challenging times, regardless of the challenge, some of us find time to seek the Lord in prayer and perhaps carve out occasional quiet time to read Scripture. We tend to seek the Lord when we, our organizations or our families are in trouble. We try to understand what is going on and what God wants us to do; we might even seek direction from godly people.

Do we really think that we can successfully perform our leadership responsibilities based on our own talents and abilities? Many of us only reach out for God when we are either humbled enough to realize we do not understand what is going on or we are humbled enough to accept that we cannot accomplish the challenge on our own. In a Leadership Development Survey conducted in Fall 2008 by our organization, more than 30 percent of the almost 600 respondents said they were either “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with their relationship with God.

Additionally, 30 percent expressed the same ratings when asked about their prayer and devotional time. Scripture tells us that regardless of our circumstances, the Lord desires a consistent relationship with each one of us. Knowing this, why do some of us only reach out during the challenging times? God wants a relationship with us all the time, not just in times of trouble. If we spend daily time with God and we allow Him to speak to us, He will set our agenda for the day in a way that is so much more effective than we could possibly design on our own.   

Henry Blackaby, a prominent Christian leader, tells the story of encouraging busy Fortune 500 CEOs to spend daily time with the Lord. He said that “spending unhurried time with God each morning is the greatest single time saver for a CEO as more can happen when the God of the universe instructs you in the beginning of the day than any other single thing.” We are all busy.  Consider, however, that we all have exactly 168 hours in a week. No one can add to or subtract from that number. We choose how we spend that time.  Many of the more successful Christian leaders (as defined as having a Kingdom impact) will readily acknowledge they spend significant amounts of time in quiet time and prayer. Only those leaders with great discipline have a regular and consistent priority in devoting time to be quiet with the Lord, to seek and know Him through His Word and to pray.