Resilient Church Leadership invites you to join us in rest and reflection.
What do you need?
My friend’s words hung mid-air, like a half-deflated helium balloon. They didn’t fall; neither did they rise. Slightly deflated, just impossibly suspended in mid-air, right in front of my face. I could practically reach out and touch the question.
At that time in my life, it seemed everything in my circumstances was hopelessly falling apart. Broken relationships, failed initiatives, financial free-fall, conflict, and a deep mistrust amongst family members and my church team. What I needed couldn’t possibly be more irrelevant, or pointless to consider, in the midst of this storm.
Like many of us in ministry, I had become skilled at anticipating, driving, and at times, even accommodating, what other people, leadership challenges, or organizational priorities required. I had no idea what I needed. Even worse, I was not sure that what I needed really mattered in the grand scheme of things. For me, this important question was simply invalid.
But there it hung, mid-air. Didn’t rise, didn’t fall.
What did I need?
You need to get quiet & connect
Over many years, I have learned to welcome that question, and let it lead me to some areas of my soul that deeply need time and space to connect with God. Not to decide, fix, explain, defend, push hard, pretend, or anything else. Just a time to connect.
I know my experience is not unique. Throughout the history of the Christian faith, those who sought to transcend the circumstances and drivers of their “time” intentionally withdrew from the demands and pressures of day to day life. This would happen in little or in large ways, in order to hone their ability to heed the still small voice that generally will not shout above the noise …