Leading from faith is activated by:
1) Recalibrating your thinking.
I will admit being worn down from all the negative news.
My perspective from the beginning has been that this is very serious, but we’ll all get through it and be stronger for it. But candidly, the 24/7 bombardment of “doom and gloom” started to wear me down.
The fears are real, but I needed to recalibrate my thinking by focusing on the facts, and it helped immensely.
Fact one: God is still in control.
When we think things are falling apart, God’s plan is actually falling together.
Pastor Kevin Myers (March 15, 2020)
Remedy – leading from faith and some positive truth to the gloom and focus to discover what you can do.
Some people feed your fears, and some people feed your faith. Get around people who feed your faith.
Pastor Kevin Myers (March 15, 2020)
We must remember some families are heartbroken from their loss, and that is tragic. They need leading from faith, so but we must all focus on hope for the future.
2) Eliminate the non-essentials and focus on the good news of the Gospel.
Good news counters bad news.
The Gospel is the best news we can ever have. It doesn’t solve the immediate issue, that’s true, but it reminds us of what is truly important and ultimately what our focus should be on.
Do all that you can to help resolve the situation, but never lose sight of the big picture. The Gospel is central to how we think and live. And Jesus never panicked, even in His most difficult hour.
Let go of the non-essentials for a season in order to do your best for leading from faith and hope right now.
3) Raise the practice of prayer to one of prominence.
Prayer may be so obvious that it doesn’t need to be on the list. But my observation and experience are that under intense pressure when there is much that must be done “now,” it’s easy to allow prayer to slip to second place.
In all crises, including the Coronavirus, prayer is our greatest tool to shut it down and heal the sick.
This is my daily prayer, and I believe that the more who pray this prayer or one like it, the faster this illness will be contained and shut down.
This point does not suggest that you are not praying enough, but that we can all pray a little more, especially in times of great need.
4) Look for ways to serve and help others.
Fear is always reduced when you help others rather than think primarily about yourself. When you get stuck in your own head, your world shrinks, and your leadership becomes smaller.
It’s similar to a person who becomes critically ill. All their effort and energy rightfully and understandably moves to getting better. They don’t have the ability to do anything other than focus on themselves.
When you find ways to invest in and help others, you become a bigger and stronger leader. Your confidence rises, and you become more effective.
It may be nothing more complicated than an encouraging word or sincere prayer, but that may be more life-giving than any of your most sophisticated strategies.
5) Trust God with the things you can’t control.
I’ve heard it said that there’s nothing that we can actually control. Perhaps that’s true. But leadership is influence, and there is much we can influence for good.
We can change things; that’s a significant part of what leaders do.
However, there is a point where influence comes to an end, and God must take over completely.
When we reach the end of what we can do, we can either feel helpless or become dependent. Dependence on God is the better choice.
