The Inspired Leader: 101 Biblical Reflections for Becoming a Person of Influence (5 page)

WINSTON CHURCHILL SPENT most of his life in politics. His career encompassed numerous failures and disappointments. His father, Sir Randolph Churchill, never believed his son would make much of himself, despite his continual effort to do so. Winston later confessed that his father had told him he should join the army. This was not, as Winston first supposed, because he showed an aptitude for the service, but because he demonstrated no promise for law. Winston lost office and switched political parties more than once. He repeatedly teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Yet on May 10, 1940, he finally became Prime Minister of Britain. He was 66 years old. It would not be until he was a senior citizen that Winston Churchill achieved the position he had coveted his entire life.

Harry Truman’s early life was, like Churchill’s, filled with disappointment. He suffered bankruptcy. Being a plainspoken, ordinary man, he was often overlooked. He was usually the underdog in elections in which he ran. He was the third vice president to serve under Franklin Roosevelt. His presidency, beginning when he was 61, was much like Churchill’s role as prime minister, largely unexpected. In each case, the men served with distinction and changed the course of history.

Moses was 80 years old when God gave him the assignment of his life. Everything he had done previously was preparatory to the task the octogenarian would undertake for the enslaved Israelites. When God first told Moses of His plans, the shepherd was filled with excuses why he could not do what God was asking. Yet God was far from finished with Moses. In fact, his best days were still ahead of him.

In youth we are generally blessed with vigor and vision. We feel as if anything is possible. As we get older, we tend to become more conservative and careful. Rather than a vision for the future, we begin to play it safe and count the years until retirement. Yet with God, we can’t rest on our laurels. We never reach an expiry date on our usefulness to Him. With God there can always be a new opportunity for us to serve Him, regardless of our age or previous success. That is what makes walking with God so exciting. There is always a fresh opportunity looming, if we are faithful.

Some people become the victims of their previous success. They have achieved much in the past so they begin to think their best days are behind them. They glory in their fruitful past rather than anticipating what God will do through their lives next. Others are victims of their past. They may have failed in previous efforts. Perhaps people have dismissed them as being of no further usefulness. As a result, they are not even looking for what God might have for them next.

This is not to say that we will achieve our greatest roles later in life, as Churchill and Truman did. But it does mean there can always be a new undertaking that challenges us afresh and calls upon everything we previously learned in life. With God, there are limitless possibilities!

How are you living? Are you winding down, coasting, living in the past, or expectantly embracing life, knowing that God is never finished with you and that He always has one more thing for you to do and to become?

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. Are you living your life with a continual sense of expectation? Or, have you become pessimistic about your future? Why?
   

2. Is your life characterized by exciting new adventures or by focusing on what happened in the past? Has your past history encouraged you or discouraged you? How is your past affecting your present outlook on life?
   

3. Do you truly believe that with God ALL things are possible? If so, how does the way you are living reflect that belief?
   

Lou Giuliano

Chairman and CEO ITT CORP, retired. Workforce Ministries

OVER THE LAST several years I have had the privilege of mentoring a number of businessmen in significant leadership positions who have a strong desire to follow the Lord. As I reflect on our conversations, they eventually revolve around career issues. Most people I talk with express dissatisfaction with where they are or they are facing job transitions that are raising vexing concerns. Of course, I don’t have answers for them, just more questions. God has you in your job for a reason. What do you think that is? Is God using your current position to open doors to new opportunities? Most often the answer is, “I don’t know,” which suggests the need for more prayer, Bible study, and patience.

God provides practical guidance to us in the Scriptures. Unless we remain closely connected to Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Our first task is to continue to build our relationship with Him. Throughout our questioning and decision-making, He must remain at the center of our thoughts. Henry Blackaby puts it succinctly: “Find out where God is working and join Him.” We need to be “aggressive responders” to the Lord’s direction.

But this is entirely foreign to what most business leaders are accustomed to doing! We are much more comfortable taking the lead, planning ahead, and making things happen. The idea of responding to another’s plan, rather than carrying out our own doesn’t fit with our training, experiences, or aptitude! As usual, this is the complete opposite of what the world has trained us to do. I have come to expect that if an approach does
not
run contrary to popular thinking, it probably is not coming from God!

Abraham is a great example of God working in a manner that ran contrary to commonly held assumptions. God revealed His unusual plan to Abraham. Abraham believed and obeyed. The result:
“We call Abraham ‘father’ not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody.”
(Romans 4:17
The Message
).
God’s plan often requires patience and character, but if we are willing to remain faithful and in a state of “alert expectancy,” we are never left shortchanged (
Romans 5:3-5
The Message
).

Alert expectancy. What an exciting way to look at things! Our faith in Christ gives us the opportunity to live in a state of alert expectancy; patiently waiting for what God will do next. People who choose this path will one day look back in amazement at what God did.

In one instance a man chose to leave a good, long-term employer for family reasons, and accept a staff role in a new company. His friends all said moving from a P & L responsibility to a staff job was a mistake—a step backwards for his career. He was violating conventional wisdom. But he sought to put his family’s needs first, responding as he thought the Lord was leading him to. He not only enjoyed the new position, but within two years he was back in a P & L slot and within the next few years, he unexpectedly found himself as the CEO of this Fortune 500 company. It is amazing to watch God do through us what we could never accomplish on our own. It is comforting to know we have a God who is, always faithful, desires more for us than we could imagine, and perfectly capable of doing the impossible.

If you are presently facing significant challenges in your life, trust in the Lord! Be an aggressive responder who lives with alert expectancy!

Godspeed.

REFLECT FOR A MOMENT

1. Would you describe the style of your Christian life as, “alert expectancy”? Do you assume God will show you what to do next?
   

2. Are you an “aggressive responder”? When God speaks, are you quick to respond?
   

3. How attached are you to your plan? Could you relinquish it for God’s? Have you?
   

David L. Dunkel

Chairman and CEO, KForce, Inc.

LAST MOTHER'S DAY my wife and I had the opportunity to visit my 84-year-old widowed mother who lives 1,200 miles away. As we talked and caught up, I found myself excitedly relaying all that God was doing in my life and as my passion increased, my mom stopped me and said, “You know, I always thought you would be a priest.” Our family has a long history in the Catholic faith (including my years as an altar boy), so our image of a priest was white starched collars and black robes. There are many references to priests (1 Peter 2:5) throughout Scripture but especially important to me is 1 Samuel 2:35:
“Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.”