Generally not a favourite place to be!

This is the 8^th and final post on transformation and the small business leader.

“That will take too long!” “I can’t wait for that to happen!” I’m guessing that you have had these thoughts more than once. Maybe even today?

Surrounded by a fast paced world, you can sometimes be faced with unbelievable tensions. The steady, relentless pressure to increase speed, to drive people and process faster, seems to never go away. Sound familiar?

There is much reason to pursue being more and more efficient – the focused pursuit of eliminating waste. And while efficiency is an important mindset for process improvement…if overly focused on…it can become a hindrance to the mindset we are invited into when we choose to grow and mature as a devoted Christ-following small business leader.

We must reframe how we view time and how we view growth. In a microwave age of all things “instant”, we can become a people who are very impatient. We want to “see” results in all things… personal growth, family and business. When the “needed” results don't happen as planned, we can become sorely disappointed and disillusioned.

“It’s a mistake to think that moving fast is the same as actually going somewhere.” 
Steve Goodier

John Ortberg once asked Dallas Willard what he could do to re-energize his life – his connection with Christ. Dallas responded with…“You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life, for hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our world today.”

Years ago I memorized Psalm 40:1-3 NIV. My own nature resisted the truths imbedded in these verses. And yet, I can attest to the freedom that God was offering me as I chose to embrace His call to wait, to become more patient, to rest in things unresolved.  My sense of freedom and rest came through:

1. Choosing to wait on Him.
2. Trusting that He WILL turn to me and hear my cry.
3. Experiencing Him lifting me out of the pit of my own separate-from-God-humanity.
4. The joy of Him re-establishing His strength and firmness of foundation for my “feet’.
5. The pleasure of “seeing” God at work around me, blessing people as they trust and experience Him.

The reality of Psalm 40:1-3 is that God’s way can fly in the face of our leadership culture where we impatiently demand results of God, self and others. Our unwillingness to rest and wait for God in things unresolved, in our own character and in that of others, tells us much about our view of God and our understanding of how growth in Christ-likeness actually occurs.

How patient are you?

A Deliberate Application:

• Reflect on Psalm 40:1-3 NIV.
• What’s your response as you consider your experience of “waiting patiently for the Lord”?
• Set aside time to invest and reflect on the previous posts regarding transformation.
• What are you sensing God ask of you as you choose to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”?
• Who will you share this with?

DeliberateU-TUBE:  

Reflect on Francis Chan’s challenge to wait on God – to be transformed.