To Cry Out OR To Trust?

What follows is an excerpt from an email I sent out this week to folks and friends of Grace Community Church (where I serve as Equipping Pastor). Every Wednesday morning I share some thoughts. After the excerpt is one of the replies I received. Then I’ll elaborate on my answer to the reply.

Do you remember that story in scripture where Jesus is sleeping in the boat, the disciples are all wide awake … and scared stupid … because they are on the lake with a huge storm brewing? (By the way, the “Sea of Galilee� isn’t much bigger than your standard lake, and it’s totally surrounded by land, so it’s a lake).

I can relate to the disciples in this story. Seems like the last few weeks, life has been swirling around me at a faster pace than I can handle. I want to scream at the top of my lungs, “Wake up, Jesus, and bring some peace to this chaos!�

What is odd to me about that biblical story is that when the disciples woke Jesus up, he didn’t say anything to them at first. He just stood up in the boat and said to the storm, “Peace.� Then the storm stopped immediately and all was quiet. It was only after he had calmed the storm that Jesus looked at his disciples and said, “Don’t be afraid.�

You would think that Jesus, upon being woken from a much needed nap (I mean, he has to be dog-tired if he’s sleeping through a thunderstorm … while in a boat … while on the lake), he would look at his disciples and say, “Dudes, what are you freaking out for? I’m the Son of God, I am the Word that spoke Creation into existence! Don’t you think we’ll be alright with me around?� But it was only after he calmed the storm that his disciples were really terrified. That’s when Jesus looked at them and said, “Don’t be afraid.�

So back to my “storm� … I’m dealing with some life trials of others (relationship problems, impending illness, etc.). I am adjusting to a newborn … and an almost 3-year old who realizes he now has company in the family. I’m following God’s lead as we are hiring new staff to begin in November (oh by the way, Tony Jeck will be our Spiritual Formation Pastor working primarily with families with children and families with teens; Stephanie Jeck will be our Worship Arts Pastor; you can find out more about them by going here). All this is requiring more faith, more trust, more patience, etc.

It feels chaotic. I want to yell out Jesus to slow things down, make it calmer … “I’m afraid, God, and I need you to do something.� But if he steps in and calms everything, I will probably be just like those disciples of his were … scared to death that Jesus really can do the impossible. So, instead I’ll trust him to be with me during this chaos. I’ll trust that he’s in the boat (though he may be catching a nap), and where he is headed is where I’m headed. And where ever Jesus is going is good enough for me (probably even better than where I’d choose to go on my own). If it means there’s some chaos and storms on the journey, then so be it.

Here’s a reply I received:

“Don’t you think the God of all creation wants us to call out to him while he’s sleeping and let him know, ‘Lord, I’ve had enough! I need your help!’?”

So, here’s my response to this question …

Yes, God does want to hear our cries, our fears, our questions, our doubts. Psalm 88 even sanctions our midnight cries. But we need to be prepared for the possibility that when he responds to our cries, his “peace” may be a lot scarier for us than the chaos was.

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
Are you in one of life’s storms right now? If so, are you crying out, or trusting, or both?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com
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3 Things I’ve Learned about Leadership

It seems I always learn more from my mistakes than my successes. Isn’t that an oddly frustrating reality?

In my dealings with people over the last month of my busy life, I’ve relied on three things I’ve learned about Christian leadership to keep me focused on God’s calling, my priorities, and the need for Jesus in my community.

#1 — Just because I used to think a certain way doesn’t mean it’s true.

There are often times I take a retrospective look at my life and wish I could go back and get a second take on some situations and events. I shake my head as I remember how I used to passionately and unreservedly push my opinion through at meetings and encounters. It didn’t matter if I was right (and I’m wise enough to now realize about half the time I wasn’t right). What matters is how I handled the situation.

I used to think that if something was the right action then everyone else had better get on board or get out of the way. I still think there are rare occasions where this tact is appropriate, but it is seldom necessary. It’s far better to gain consensus. These days when I think I’m right about something, I sort of float the idea out and let others run with it. I figure if several others find it to be right, then we might be onto something. If not, then I eat my humble pie and move on.

This approach allows for a real sense of community. I think it pleases God.

#2 — Just because someone with more experience than me thinks something is right doesn’t mean it is.

I’ve never been one to blindly follow authority. I tended to be a skeptic of authority and try to find ways to “be better” than those over me. It was a fruitless exercise that caused me much grief … not to mention the headaches I gave to those over me!

These days I’m more apt to try to discover how an authority figure is trying to help me. Instead of focusing on our points of contention, I try to remember that the odds are this person is trying to help me but something is getting lost in translation.

Instead of making sure they fully understand my point at all costs, I try to retain a relationship that is open and honest. I may still disagree with the person in authority … I may still take a different course than what they want me to … But I do so letting them know I deeply appreciate their insight and good intentions. I ask them to pray for me as I take the next step.

#3 — When all else fails, look at what Jesus did and try to emulate that.

Several years ago during the WWJD craze, I never was a fan of the phrase. The more important question to me is “What DID Jesus do?” Granted, Jesus never sat in a church board meeting, or negotiated terms with a bank, nor hired staff, nor many of the other myriad things a Christian leader does that sometimes feels so unrelated to what he or she is called to do. But Jesus did have dealings with small groups of people: some for him and some against him. Jesus did try to deal with material matters in a way that pleased his Holy Father. Jesus did invite people to “come and see” and, despite hundreds of them turning away, a handful did become his disciples.

So when the logic of this world just isn’t making sense, and people who call themselves Christians aren’t acting like Christ-followers, and I seem to be surrounded by a lack of faith, and I’m unnecessarily challenged, I ask myself “What did Jesus do?”

Not only does that help me maneuver many situations I’d rather not deal with, it almost always opens me up to a surprise about this Jesus I serve. I learn a little more about who God is and what this life is about. That’s always worth the exercise.

SO TELL ME SOMETHING:
If you’re in leadership, what’s something you’ve learned?

——

Brian Niece
www.brianniece.com
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