Difficulty at work? Opportunity or Problem?

The past month has been a significant time of learning for me. Sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning from others, and just asking lots of questions of what is next. In October, Leif Hetland joined MERGE and shared with us the three chair concept and what it means for the marketplace.  Basically, chair 1 is for those who understand that they are children of papa God, chair 2 is for those who don't understand their identity as sons and daughters of King Jesus and position themselves as orphans (who are saved), and then there is chair 3, for those who don't know Jesus at all.  There is so much around this teaching, it is worth getting Leif's book or one of his tapes. 

The biggest take-a-way from me is understanding our identity in Jesus and what He has for us. We are to partner with our Heavenly Father to solve the problems of this world. Chair 1 doesn't see problems, they see promise and opportunity. Our worldview, business view, education, etc, has all taught us to avoid problems, to fear them, and to get away. In fact, I say on one of my hometown high school marquis the following quote: "A clever person solves problems, A wise person avoids them." WHAT?!   We need to reform our thinking. Chair 2 people are waiting for Jesus to come and for us to be taken to Heaven. While being heaven minded is great, we also need to realize that we carry Heaven with us. Chair 1 people realize, we have the opportunity to bring Heaven to this world. 

When we understand our position in Christ, we have the opportunity to serve the world like no one else has or can. So my question is who are the difficult people or problems of your work that you are seeing as an opportunity and a promise. Make a list and offer them up to God and see what answers and insights He wants you to bring to the situation. 

I love this quote:

“Jesus served with the heart of a king but ruled with the heart of a servant. This is the essential combination that must be embraced by those longing to shape the course of history.”

Bill Johnson, Bethel

Authentic Leadership

Yesterday, marked our third workshop installment from Tim Hoerr, CEO of Serra Ventures. This workshop focused on our leadership and the three main areas we need to continue to focus our energies for authentic marketplace leadership; setting foundations, executing with excellence, and loving people.

"It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living." 

Eph. 1:11 (MSG)

Leadership begins and ends with self-awareness. Some of the questions we should be asking ourselves:

1. What's your personal story? (Workshop 1)
2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
3. What accountable relationships are you in?
4. How is your health? spiritual? physical? emotional?
5. How well aligned with your organization are you?

Setting Foundations comprises of understanding your 

• Mission - why does your organization exist?
• Vision - where is your organization going?
• Values - what are the most important guidelines in doing business?

Executing with Excellence

• Strategic Excellence
• Operational Excellence

Loving People

• By creating a TGIM (Thank Goodness it's Monday) culture
• By communicating 
• By caring

Some of these topics aren't new but we can get so wrapped up in doing our work that we don't assess these to make sure we are leading intentional and with authenticity. For me, the workshop left me with some practical take aways that I need to concentrate on to make sure my life stays aligned and what I pour my time in to is authentic with the life that I've been created for. Thanks Tim for another great workshop.

If you missed this one or others and would like more information, please contact me at carla@mergebusiness.com.

Right Place at the Right Time - For the Sake of Others!

^"If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14

Many times in our work we question why we are in a certain job or why we have to work with certain people. 

Our study of Esther this month demonstrated how God's favor can place us in a position that allows us to be most effective in God's Kingdom. Sometimes we mistake God's favor for work that should look effortless and without conflict. Queen Esther had tremendous favor on her life but her destiny was not without problems. She faced death for her own life as well as extinction for her people. She was given the opportunity to save her people.

Our work may not be as dramatic as saving an entire nation of people from genocide, but God can use us in our work to bring salvation and freedom to many. We are the light of the world. You may be in your position for such a time as this.

Many of us stop there with our sentiments that are life has meaning but don't realize the precious treasure of how God wants to work through us. A careful read through Esther will show God's strategy for better position in your workplace.

For example, Esther fasted for three days before she went before the King to present her case. Many times I have fasted with the hopes of changing a situation. Esther's situation never changed, the King never reversed his decision. The Book of Esther shows us how strategically to work with God to bring solutions. I believe her three day fast was an incredible strategy session with God on how to solve the problem. The problem was solved in a unique way without the King reversing His decision.

Before we question how or why God would use us for His purposes. Remember Esther came off the streets as a Jewish orphan and became a Queen that was given authority to save her people. A great rags to riches story or better yet, orphan to royalty story.

Read and study Esther for strategic leadership lessons that will help you right where you are!

Where's the Risk? Everyone Out of the Boat!

Matthew 16:25

"25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

Last week at MERGE Lunch we spent more time on taking risks. Everyone comes from a slightly different viewpoint, whether you are taking risks all the time, not sure if you are taking the right risks, don't know which one to take, or you feel spot on, there is much to learn. We looked at the text of Jonah and discovered all the risks God was asking him to take. There were some interesting findings in our study:

1. God is good. He is good at giving direction and command.
2. Even when Jonah ran in the opposite direction of God's direction and command, God used it for His purpose of bringing more people to Him. In this case, a boat load of people were saved.
3. When Jonah actually obeyed God, a whole city or nation was saved.
4. God can still get to His purposes through our disobedience.
5. God is patient and He is always looking to save.

Some of my thoughts post MERGE: 

Jonah was a prophet. The role of a prophet is to be a spokesperson for God. The prophet admonishes, warns, directs, encourages, intercedes, teaches and counsels. He brings the word of God to the people of God and calls the people to respond. Jonah forgot who He was and His purpose. God sending him to Nineveh to speak out against their wickedness, was His purpose. He sent Jonah, the prophet, to do prophet stuff. God purposes advance in spite of Jonah's agenda but Jonah's joy is robbed because He let his personal prejudice and judgment fall on the people of Nineveh.

What does all this mean for our work life? 

• I believe we all want to take calculated risks. God wants to give us direction, the risk should diminish if we know we are in the center of His will. Doesn't mean it will be less challenging or come without costs, but we can rest in that God works all things to our good. (Paraphrase of Romans 8:28)
• God is in our work and we can trust Him. He knows our situation better than we do.
• If we are going to understand what God is directing us to do, we have to build relationship with Him. If we don't understand how or when we are to get out of the boat, maybe we need more time with Him.
• We need to fully understand who we are? What is our purpose? Then we will always have a plumb line to measure the risk, to measure the decision, to measure the direction. Spend some time on this and ask God to help you understand your truest self and purpose.
• Lastly, be willing at all times, to lay down our own purposes and agenda. God's purposes for us our greater and better and definitely bring more joy.

Join us next month, September 10th, for MERGING Our Lives For The Sake Of Others.

Resiliency

How resilient are you with life’s challenges and setbacks? That was our topic last Saturday at our MERGE Workshop. Tim Hoerr, CEO of Serra Ventures, led us through a morning discussion of how to move forward in times of failure and challenge.  It was an incredible message for me as I stepped back and got God perspective on how God sees these times and how He wants to use them. No waste in the Kingdom.

Tim led us through practical tools for overcoming our challenges and setbacks, put into a simple acronym of REBAR.  Rebar is a steel bar that is used in laying concrete to reinforce the strength of it. For our purposes, rebar stands for:

R – Resist the enemy: If you discern temptation or attack, arm yourself with prayer. 

E – Embrace the circumstance: Flight, denial, use of “should: and “oughts” are counterproductive. Embrace the circumstance for what it is.

B – Be honest with yourself: As you embrace the circumstance, seek discernment on the cause. “Own” your stuff.

A – Accept the Holy Spirit’s help and instruction: The Holy Spirit wants to comfort and direct you in the midst of your circumstance. Accept what He’s doing.

R – Rest in Jesus: All who are weary…come to me.

Rest was a big one for the group and the realization that as business professionals we are all about fixing our stuff, getting out of the situation as fast as possible, and working hard not to repeat it.  These do not keep us resilient for the enemy attacks. We need to invite and welcome God into our situation and know:

• God is not mad.
• God is in love with you and wants the best for you.
• God is intimately acquainted with our situation.

That is good news. Jesus’ completed work on the cross was a success and we get to be in relationship with the one who knows all about our struggles. We are not guaranteed to be challenge and setback free but only that He has our back!  I love the verse from Message that Tim used James 1:12:

“Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.”

For many of us, we realized that we aren’t risking enough and maybe life is a little too comfortable. Time to get out of the boat and keep our eyes on Jesus. We will discuss more of this at our next MERGE on August 13^th at 11:30…join us.

Leadership from a Different Perspective

Matthew 20:26-28
"whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

There are lots of books written on leadership and even some on servant leadership. But the question that the MERGE community wrestled with this month is how does servant leadership look in a workplace setting? We are inundated with the way the world wants us to do business. We need to continuously sharpen the way we need to do business God's way. The principles we are taught in church aren't just for church and families but for our work as well. 

So how does servant leadership work? Organizationally, we are set up in a hierarchy chart for top down leadership. We are given boundaries, span of control, and job descriptions to keep us in our place. While that is appropriate for how to do business, relationally it falls a part. Servant leadership, the model that Jesus provided, shows us how to be compassionate, come alongside, and lift others up.

This model becomes a way that we show Jesus to the world. We can be the bright spot in someone's world. When the people are stuck in their job, we have the opportunity to come alongside and help others see what God is doing, see solutions where others only see problems, and be the light to the world. 

What's this do for us? It takes our eyes off ourselves and what is really happening around us, not to us. We can trust that God will take care of us as we pay attention to what God is doing. It also increases our sphere of influence. The world as a whole doesn't do this, the world doesn't stop to help those around them succeed, fill in the gap, and be strong when they can't be.  We have more opportunity to breathe into other's lives when we humble ourselves and take the posture of servant.

In the story of John 15, where Jesus washes the feet of His disciples. It's interesting because He washes Judas Iscariot's feet, right before he betrays Jesus. We aren't just servant leaders for the people we like but also for those at work that we don't like, the ones sitting around our tables. We may be the only Christian in their life, the only way they may meet Jesus. We may be the kindness they need to change everything. Don't take offense by their harshness and miss the opportunity to be Jesus to others.

Take this month and pray about how God wants you to demonstrate servant leadership in your workplace setting. Read the gospels to see how Jesus modeled it. Let the Holy Spirit be your teacher to be amazing servant leaders.

Share your experiences by commenting on this blog.

First Things First - Recap

Last Wednesday at MERGE, we had a great study on "First Things First." Everyone was challenged with putting God first in all things. Looking at Matthew 6:24-34, we were challenged with how easy it is to take our eyes off Jesus onto the worries of this world. This scripture is interesting because the subtitles of the Bible often keep us from looking at the preceding and succeeding verses. This passage starts out with not being able to serve two masters, Matthew 6:24:

 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

 It is usually broken then by scripture talking about "worry and anxiety." Then goes into a favorite for many, Matthew 6:33, 

^"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

When I read all these passages together, it seemed to tell a story about choosing mammon or money as a master. It delivers worry and anxiety, whereas there is so much more promise and freedom and rest in choosing God and His righteousness. 

The amazing thing about being in community, like MERGE, is you get to hear how God is speaking to the you through others. Richard Herschberger, a photographer, discussed taking pictures when you focus on one thing in a picture and blur the rest, you see it more clearly. This image really spoke to me as we keep God and His Kingdom in focus and blur the things of this world, we will see it more clearly through His lens. If we start to blur God and His Kingdom, then the worries of this world are more focused and become the main thing. 

How do we keep God in focus in our picture?  We seek first His Kingdom, making time to pray, scripture, be in community, and waiting on Him. Share your stories this month as you seek His Kingdom.

What's Your Story - Recap

by Tim Hoerr

The group participation and interaction in the most recent MERGE workshop – What’s Your Story? – was some of these best I’ve experienced in a seminar/workshop setting.  I really enjoyed hearing pieces of several folks’ life stories throughout the morning-long session, gaining new insights into how the Lord shapes and interacts with our individual stories.  The Spirit was present as participants actively engaged in discussion, wrestled with the personal exercises and shared their discoveries with each other.

The profound truth that each of us does indeed have a story – and a meaningful, irreplaceable one at that – never ceases to grip me in a powerful way.  Importantly, our stories are meant to integrate with, support, and impact the stories of those around us.  That’s the beauty of God’s design for authentic community – that each of us “get to play” in His bigger story, as we connect with and love on others.  I was really encouraged to see this in action during the workshop!

Finally, it was obvious that the Lord was doing something with a lot of workshop participants in regards to risk-taking.  Of all the topics covered, this one seemed to resonate most strongly.  Risk is central to the life of faith – and God seems to always be inviting us to take steps of risk in our journeys. Sometimes small, sometimes large.  I believe that risk-taking is at the center of God conforming us to His image and inviting us into His story.  How will we each respond to his invitation?

Thanks to Tim for sharing this workshop with us. For all of those that joined us, please use the comments section of the blog to share your experience.