Elevate well...

There is much that can be said about "good leaders", but the most frequent thing you will hear mentioned about "solid" leadership is the fact that people have no problem "getting behind them" in loyal support. Good leadership does not mean that everyone agrees with every decision that is made, but that they can apply themselves to the vision of that leader and move forward in the faith that the leader's plans will accomplish the end result. We find leaders in every area of our lives - at work, in our homes, in the community in which we reside, and over countries. In fact, we might be the ones who fill the role of leaders in some arena of our lives. Leaders play an integral part in "directing" our future. Therefore, the leader must lead with integrity, passion and purpose - but the leader must also lead with interest in others, compassion, and openness of heart/mind.

When good people run things, everyone is glad, but when the ruler is bad, everyone groans.
(Proverbs 29:2)

I have been interviewed for leadership positions and in turn, have interviewed others who will fill positions of leadership. One of the "questions" you often hear posed is "tell me about your most influential leader". This question usually elicits a litany of character traits that exhibit commitment to the people they lead, an ability to create vision, genuine trust, etc. All of these are positive traits. No one ever says, "Well, my most influential leader ruled with a heavy hand, carried a big stick, and never wanted our input into decisions." Leadership qualities are exemplified in various people who stand as examples for us in scripture. As election day is upon us, maybe we would do well to consider some of these examples.

• Job - a husband, father, rancher, and friend of many. When "misfortune" fell his way with his business, family, and fortune, he trusted God to bring provision to both his household and his "hired" workers. He knew in his heart that God both provided the increase and allowed for the decrease. With that being true, he'd provide for the increase once again. He kept his focus squarely on God's faithfulness through all his "down-turns" - he did not allow his focus to drift to the ill that had befallen him, but kept his eyes squarely focused on the truth. Things may have appeared pretty bleak on the outside, but God was still on the throne in is life.
• Peter - an apostle in the New Testament church and a disciple who had followed Jesus during his earthly ministry. Most think of Peter as a little bit of an impetuous man - acting without thinking. That may have been the start of his "leadership" as a disciple of Christ, but it certainly was not his end. Toward the end of his ministry, we see Peter moved by the needs of the beggar at the Temple Gate - moved enough to veer from his intended path to meet the needs of the man before him. He connected with people, even when he did not see eye-to-eye with them. He allowed and cherished the "connection" between people who had needs, plans, and desires.
• David - a shepherd boy, called to be King over the land. As a shepherd boy, he learned the importance of protecting those that he had been appointed to lead (his sheep). Without his care and attention to their needs, he'd lose them to the "competition" (those pesky predators just waiting in the wings). As King of Israel, he continued his "watchful care" over those he was called to "shepherd". Yes, without question, he made mistakes along the way. He displayed his humanity in those mistakes he made, but more importantly, he displayed his ability to admit he was wrong. A trait not to be overlooked in a solid leader.

These are but three examples of leaders and their leadership traits. The three things I really want us to see is that we can all be called to leadership at one point or another. The qualities we demonstrate, the connections we make, and the honesty we maintain in those relationships will either ensure safety for those we lead, or create a slippery-slope for them to traverse. Not only do we need to align ourselves with good leaders, but we need to be good leaders ourselves (in whatever arena of leadership we are in). There are people that will either be elevated to realize their potential because of our "leadership", or they will be diminished in their purpose through the lack of connection we make. Mentors are leaders - and we all mentor in one way or another. The example we set may be just what another needs to realize their full potential in Christ. Just sayin!

And your appointment time is....

We all have appointments we have to keep, right?  This last week, I took a day off to run my mom to several appointments - dentist and eye doctor.  The dental appointment at least allowed me to shop a little for a few things we needed as there was a store nearby.  The eye doctor - what a wait!  To me, the 4 hour wait almost made it appear as though there was no appointment at all!  I have been "squeezed in" to see the doctor in times past, so this was cruel and unusual punishment just sitting in the huge waiting room with other disgruntled patients "in waiting".  Appointments are "planned events", right? There is a specific time and place - the parties agree to the meeting.  So, why the wait?  The appointment allows both parties to be ready for the purpose of the meeting.  So, why is it we are sometimes "ill-prepared" for some of the most significant appointments of a "divine" nature which have been arranged for our lives?

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”  (John 4:13-14 CEB)

God makes "divine appointments" with the ones he loves.  In the Old Testament days, God made special days and seasons where he'd have special "appointments" with is people.  We sometimes here these called feasts, festivals, or holy days.  Today, a few churches still carry on this "tradition" of specials seasons or days - such as Lent or Good Friday.  These times of gathering together were big news for Israel - for these were times when God would often speak to his people, renewing them for the next journey they'd take, helping them to remember his faithfulness, and revealing to them the power and resources of the one they served.  Today, when we gather together in our churches, we don't usually see this same "focus" as the Old Testament believers possessed - because our "gathering days" are just that - gatherings. The divine appointment God intended by our gathering together is just not the same because the focus has drifted.

If you haven't come to realize it, God also has some "unscheduled appointments" in your life.  Now, that may seem a little bit like an oxymoron to you - "unscheduled" and "appointment" don't actually bespeak the same thing, do they?  Yet, in God's "appointment book", they are scheduled.  We just didn't get an "appointment card"!  These are the special times when God somehow slows us down just long enough to actually speak into our lives - bringing much needed direction, challenging us in some arena where we have become complacent, or just refilling us in such a way that our "battery" gets recharged for the next phase of our journey.

As we sat waiting for the doctor, mom and I kept our eyes peeled for the tall man with the dark hair, wearing blue scrubs.  Why?  He was the one we had the appointment with - a glimpse of him would give us hope we were not waiting in vain.  It is kind of like that with God's appointments - if you are diligent in looking for him, you will catch a glimpse of him as he begins to move.  That one glimpse does something within you - it bolsters your enthusiasm, gives you hope for the "next step", and lets you know the long wait has not been without purpose.  The woman at the well is a story many will remember from their Sunday School days.  If you haven't been exposed to it, here it is in a nutshell.  

She is a Samaritan - one who has been rejected by the more traditional Jewish believers because the form of worship the Samaritan's engaged in differed from that of the traditionalists.  Now, lest you think they were a little bit like a cult, they were not exactly, but they were a little misled.  In fact, they were looking for the Messiah - they just didn't have the same religious beliefs as the traditional Jews - because they had intermarried with men/women of differing beliefs.  The beliefs got a little intertwined with those of the lands they were living in and before long, they veered from what the traditional Jews believed, bringing a riff between the two parties.  As she comes to the well to draw water in the heat of the day, Jesus is there.  No disciples, as they have gone off to do some other business, just Jesus.  She is also alone, because she is a woman with a reputation.  She has married a good many men and the one she lives with now is not even her husband.  Could you just see the bylines in the local Jewish newspaper if they had paparazzi in those times? 

She wanted water - nothing more really is revealed in her actions.  She is about her daily duties, not really aware of this appointment.  I think she may have been thirsty for a little more than water - perhaps she was thirsty for love.  I think this is important to recognize, for God's divine appointments are seldom without the purpose of meeting us exactly where our real need is.  We always have a "proclaimed" need - but we also have an "unspoken" need which we cleverly try to conceal.  Jesus is all about meeting us in the "unspoken" - for in getting us to reveal this, he can finally begin to heal us right where we need it the most.  There is something I don't want us to miss about this encounter - and all others of the divine kind.  Jesus is blunt and honest about our sin - because he knows all about it already.  The only difference between his bluntness and honesty than that of others around us is his ability to be blunt and honest without any condemnation attached.

Truth is, if we aren't gonna get real with God, he will make one of these divine appointments with us so that we are forced to strip ourselves of all we hide behind.  It isn't so we can stand there naked and ashamed - it is so he can restore us to a "whole" state.  Just as Jesus looked past her sin and faults, he looks past ours to see what he values the most about each of us - our hearts.  In touching our hearts, he is quenching our real thirst.  In so doing, he is not intending to bring any shame, just restored hope, purpose, and joy.  This is grace in action.  God only opens our understanding of the awfulness of our actions in order to help us recognize where we need his touch the most.  God always views each of us through the eyes of potential, not judgment.  In his divine appointments with us, he is changing our life's course - changing our direction.  

Many of us feel like we are we are because of our mistakes in life.  It may be true - but when God makes a divine appointment with us, his grace moves us from this place of missed opportunities into the realm of fresh opportunities. We don't need to fear the appointment he makes with us.  They are never by accident.  Just sayin!