I am in an 8-part blog series dealing with areas of struggle I have experienced - and how I am learning to work through them with God's help.
This first issue is the issue of not knowing what to do. I have battled with this one a lot over the years. With limited time, limited resources, and limited knowledge in any given area I seem to frequently not know what to do, it can be quite paralyzing. My career is chock full of times I haven't known what to do. My marriage is full of times like this. And in raising my kids- again, I frequently don't know what to do. This is a problem because I am often responsible and people are counting on me.
Example From my Career
In January 2006 I was asked to take over the global renewals business for a large software company. The job had been done so poorly in the previous year that the President of the company, the VP of Support, a Director, and an outsourced partner had all been either fired or demoted. My VP came to me and asked me to take this role on. This is kind of like asking someone to stand in front of a firing squad after they've just watched a previous group get shot.
I had to start largely from scratch and I had never done anything like this. I felt completely inadequate- there was a huge dollar amount of annual revenue at stake. What I have done in my life for situations like this is bring them to the Lord in prayer. I remember praying quite fervently and desperately at the beginning. In one particularly tense prayer time I told the Lord I felt like a young boy trying to steer a huge ship in the dark during a violent storm at sea. When I prayed about it I saw myself on the deck of that ship steering white-knuckled and hanging onto the wheel which was bigger than me. I prayed and described that scene to the Lord, I could see myself as that little boy on the deck of that ship with the waves crashing over the side in the dark. But as I prayed I suddenly saw behind that little boy the figure of Jesus, tall and shining. His hands were on top of the hands of the little boy. I was SO encouraged. I had to drive this business- it really was above my experience but it was the Lord who was driving that business through me. HIS hands were on the wheel. In the beginning I worked many late nights and I just made everything up. It was a very hard year, it was never easy- and with big revenue to deliver we were definitely building the rocket while it took off... But when I saw a problem I would try to figure out what to do and just create an answer for the need. That year we were very successful in that business- and for every year after until I finally left the company. His hands truly had guided our decisions and everything we had built.
Some lessons from that story. First, everything new is probably going to be overwhelming if its important. Second, if we are in Christ and we, in turn, bring Christ into our areas of not knowing- we WILL have his help. Sure, we are still at the wheel - but we can be assured of His help. Third, every problem is an opportunity to brainstorm an answer and the nice thing about being able to solve the problem is you can do it the right way.
Example From Child-Raising
My oldest daughter had several subsequent years at school where she had few friends. When she did have a friend they seemed to turn on her easily. She has a sweet personality, she's very smart, and she has always gravitated more to talking to adults than to kids (one of those kids who is older than her years). As a family we would have a little Bible verse and prayer time each night and there were regular times where the topic of mean friends- or not having a friend would be prayed about. Well, at the end of her 6th grade year she truly and sincerely felt she had no friends- she felt alone and frankly somewhat bullied. That night we prayed for her and in my mind I saw a hummingbird floating in the air in 3D high-resolution. It was pivoting around but it was pointing at me and it was dark. This happened at the same moment we were praying about her having a friend. With that image of a hummingbird I understood that SHE was that hummingbird. The analogy was perfect- she wasn't a pigeon in a flock or a flocking bird. She was special, a hummingbird- sometimes flying alone, unique. It set us free as a family - she was our hummingbird: beautiful, unique, and sometimes due to that she might fly alone but not because she was LESS of a little girl but because she was special. That story not only set us free that night but it became an anthem for her life. She deeply and sincerely trusts the Lord in this story and description of her- and she knows its true. As time has passed (its been a couple of years now) we have trusted God with her friend situations due to this story. And as she has grown up we really have seen evidences of her gifts shining through- and her unique, fun, special personality. She is our hummingbird.
As a father I felt helpless to help my daughter navigate the deep waters of broken friendships and being left alone at school. Once again I didn't know what to do- but I had a precious soul counting on me that could be damaged and scarred if I didn't help. Again, in prayer the Lord gave us the answer of how to handle that, and something to hold onto. We came to him in weakness and fear- and we received a lifelong image that will bless my daughter, our family, and many others for decades.
What I learned from this- how can I as a parent who has never encountered child-raising before and who is faced with unique circumstances possibly know how to handle every situation that arises? I can't! It turns out as the ultimate Father, God can help with that too.
The Application
So, when I encounter situations where I don't know what to do - and this still happens all the time. I have learned to get God involved. I pray about everything now. If God can help me on the scale of a global business problem- and down to the scale of helping a hurt little girl- He can handle the next thing I encounter. At this point my family and I pray about a lost wallet, a job issue, a bully, a question of what to do with personal financial questions, or even silly small things. Our requests to God when we don't know what to do or when we need help are frequent, probably daily. We don't even always wait for a sit-down prayer time, we pray as we go about stuff we run into as well. At this point we've developed quite a history of stories God has helped us with- we've come to really expect his help. We even have a saying, "pray, then wait"- because the answer is on the way.
So, when you don't know what to do - do the work, stay after it, don't be discouraged, you can't give up. And, don't forget to ask God what to do- and then when you get an idea, make sure you thank him. Working hard and trusting God in prayer will help you overcome in any situation!
Hey, I'd appreciate any comments below!
1 comment:
Nicely written Brian.
Post a Comment