We’re always looking to connect the dots. We crave causal explanations. We want so badly to know why things happen, because we want to control things, especially our life’s outcomes.

As parents we do all we can to manipulate the variables of our children’s lives in hopes of an extraordinary life of accumulated successes. As coaches we strive to systematize every process within our organizations so we can reproduce desired outcomes. As athletes we ritualize our routines in an effort to maximize our chances of progressive personal best performances.

We can’t help but overcomplicate things. We’re constantly making everything about us. Everything is merit-based. We wear t-shirts with quotes like, “nothing is given, everything is earned.”

This self-centered mentality permeates every aspect of our lives. We gradually minimize God’s part in the equation, foolishly thinking we can do this on our own. We find it impossible to comprehend that God needs us to do less. He needs us to stop trying to earn his blessings, stop striving to be the “best” Christian ever. He simply needs us to believe and demonstrate this through our faith each day.

Have you inquired of God to learn whether or not you’re on the right path? How do you know you’re heading in the right direction? God has significant plans for us all, but we have to be patient enough for him to reveal them to us.

In the performance spaces hope has taken on a negative connotation. Hope is viewed as passive, hope is viewed as weak, and hope doesn’t drive results. It is much more attractive to talk about mastering our fate, controlling our destiny, or manifesting our desires.

There are moments on our journey in which the weight of what we have been carrying becomes exhausting. The weight of leadership. The weight of decision making, culture building, organizing, and striving.

There are consequences to our actions. Real consequences! God wants nothing more than to walk alongside us in our transformational journey, but he won’t unless we are fully committed to him. We can’t be fore God only when we need him, and expect him to be with us always.

We are trying so hard to be special and unique in the eyes of someone else, that we forget that we are special and unique in the eyes of God. We have all been blessed uniquely. We’re not the only one capable of doing God’s work, but we are the only ones capable of doing our work for God.

Who have you told? How are you acknowledging all the amazing things God has done for you? Are you aware of all the things he is currently doing for you?

At the peak of his ministry Jesus still prioritized communion with God. He “often” withdrew. The use of his time reflected his priorities. What about you? If we were to evaluate how you spent your time the past couple weeks what would we learn about you?

Leadership is the lifelong commitment to serving God. The best leaders live in service to God. God came to redeem us! To reclaim our value to the kingdom, so we could serve him without fear. God gave us that option, but we must choose it daily.