These are trying times. Your business may be shut down. You may be on unemployment or looking for a new employer. Or you may still have your position but it sure looks different.
When a crisis hits, things change. And leaders are left there wondering what is going on.
I believe God is trying to tell leaders something. We can get so caught up in our ways that we forget there is more to our lives than work, productivity, and money.
Photo by Davide Canteli
The world tells us to pursue wealth, fame, efficiency.
None of those are bad, in and of themselves. They do become bad when they are what we’re pursuing.
In this time of sheltering-at-home, I’ve prayed and tried to figure out what God is telling me. I think I’m gaining clarity.
Today, I want to share with you what God is trying to tell leaders during the COVID-19 crisis.
What Is God Trying To Tell Leaders During A Crisis?
We need to slow down:
God is telling leaders to slow down during a crisis. It’s not because you need to go slow through a crisis. Rather, God is telling us to slow down during a crisis because we haven’t listened to His commands that tell us to rest regularly.
We can’t go 100 MPH every day, all day and expect our lives to be full, fulfilled, and meaningful. Going 100 MPH all the time will only lead to one thing: BURN OUT (and not the fun kind like the one below)
Burnout in leadership will leave you feeling empty. It will make you feel like you never have enough time.
Let God speak to you and show you how to slow down during this time. We all need to slow our roll.
We’re in this together:
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us a powerful lesson. It has shown us that we’re not in this by ourselves. We have friends, family, and coworkers who are going through the same exact thing.
It is easy to believe we’re the only one going through a trial or tribulation. You may believe you’re the only one who deals with sexual temptation, an unhappy marriage, or frustrating children.
God is showing us that we’re not in this alone. We are all going through our own painful situation.
Let’s stop hiding what we’re going through. Let’s talk to others and reveal the pain we’re experiencing.
We don’t know the future:
Part of the role of a leader is to lead others into the future of work. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
We can give our best predictions. We can do what we can to prepare for tomorrow. Yet, tomorrow will come and we won’t know what it will bring.
Don’t be afraid of an unknown future. An unknown future can be exciting if you let it.
Think about what COVID-19 makes possible. There are companies pivoting to create products they never expected to make. People who thought they couldn’t work from home are now working remotely.
We don’t know the future. That’s okay. We can make it through it.
God is still good:
Death, disease, poverty. These are hard things to deal with. They’re hard things to reconcile with a good God.
Yet, God is still good. He is still moving in the midst of a crisis.
There are good stories coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve seen people laughing and enjoying time together (through social distancing). There are people sending messages of hope to others.
God is still good. He is using His people to show others how good He is.
We need to return to a vibrant prayer life:
Forgetting to pray is easy. We have to run from meeting to meeting or emergency to emergency. The thought of taking 5, 10, or 15 minutes to pray seems asinine.
We don’t have the time to pray!
But we do. Or we need to. Either way, prayer is powerful.
God moves when His people pray.
Find time today to get on your knees and pray to God. Ask Him to heal our nation. Ask Him to restore our families and our businesses. Ask Him to become your King once again.
Prayer will move mountains. We only have to pray to see it at work.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.