Law of Priorities

When planning your priorities, how do you decide what comes first?  That is the question I have been thinking on this week while processing the Law of Priorities in the 21 Minutes of a Leader's Day by John Maxwell.

Ephesians 5:15 says, "So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise." (NLT) 

Many people give the quick answer, "I will just follow God's leading today."  They don't plan out their priorities and just respond to how God prompts them.

While that can sound good, and probably their intentions are good.  God gives us a brain and intelligence.  And in order to follow God's direction, we do need to spend time with God.  

But instead of going moment by moment being "led" by God, what if we started the day asking God what His priorities for us are.  What if we started each week asking God his priorities?  What if we started each month, each year...  You get the picture.

I believe that He would rather guide and direct us in advance, and as we spend time with Him, He will prepare us for the work He has for us to do.  

There are disciplines that we can develop and ask God to direct us.  

• The discipline of a calendar. 
• The discipline of a task list.  
• The discipline of a block schedule.  
• The discipline of scheduling time to "work on it" as well as "work in it." 
• The discipline of time with a mentor or counselor.  
• The discipline of reading to learn or participating in seminars, conferences, and other learning opportunities.

These are all tools that, when we are seeking God first, can and will serve to help us work more in line with God's priorities for our day/week/month.

The Pain of Leadership

What is the relationship of pain to leadership?  There are many people who want to be able to live the life of and be able do what successful leaders do.  But most of us don't want to go through what they went through to get there. 

Now there are a few people who got to ride an easy wave to success.  But that is the exception, not the rule.

Recently, I listened to Craig Groeschel talk about the pain of leadership.  Here is some of what he said:

"The difference between where you are and where God wants you to be may be the difficult decisions you are unwilling to make."

Then he listed three areas where we must raise the pain threshold if we want to grow as a leader.

1.  Raise the pain threshold of unjustified rejection and criticism.

• The higher you rise, the more difficult the criticism
• Don't fall for people-pleasing:  The quickest way to forget what God thinks about you is to become obsessed with what people think about you.
• Don't worry when you are being criticized--worry when you are not.
• If you are not being called a cult every now and then, you are not doing squat.

2.  Raise the pain threshold of making difficult decisions.

• It could be that God is waiting to see if we will be faithful in this decision.
• The classic parent discipline statement is also true when a leader has to make a difficult decision:  "This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you."

3.  Raise the pain threshold of pruning us.

• Everyone wants to do what I do, but no one wants to do what I did to get to be able to do what I do.

This reminds me of James 3:1  "Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly."

Would you follow you?

Recently, I read this question, and it got me thinking.  Here is the question:

"Would you follow you?"

Sometimes, I don't think I look very attractive to follow.  If people had any idea the struggles that I have, would they really want to follow me?

But maybe that struggle is part of my realization of my humanness and weakness, and part of what actually gives me the credibility to lead.

Because I struggle does not necessarily disqualify me from leading--it makes me human.  My struggle can:

• give other people hope  
• make sure God gets the credit
• keep me humble
• give me compassion for others who are struggling

Sure, there are some sins (actions) that could discredit me from leading--because I would cause others to stumble.  But the fact that I struggle does not.   And because I do commit sins does not necessarily.