Agile Mindsets and Spiritual Heart-checks
Most days, I wake up with a clear sense of what needs to be done. I am energized as I assess where we are in the mission, what changes are coming, and what path we need to take to continue progressing in the Great Commission. My hope is high, and I am motivated. But some days, I feel overwhelmed. It feels like the ground is shifting too fast beneath my feet, and I am wearing high heels when I should have my hiking boots on.
Unwelcome shifts in our current realities can come from both expected and unexpected sources. Whether it is geopolitical unrest, natural disasters, illness, personnel changes, or a perspective shift, circumstantial tremors and quakes remind us of our need to practice the leadership skill of agility.
Some of us may be motivated by an environment where change is constant. However, these changes can be particularly challenging for those of us who work in technology. We assume innovation and change will happen. We might even think that we have mastered agility. But then, we start to see cracks in our thinking and our hearts. New leaders bring new priorities. We pour our heart and soul into a "sunsetted" tool before we are ready to let go and follow a new path. Or, the worldly perspective creeps in - that technology will allow us to manage our problems, pains, and weaknesses. Technology is an empty, heartless idol that will not satisfy. Change can be so constant and come at such a pace that we grow weary in body, mind, and spirit.
Yesterday, I noticed I had been unconsciously carrying a lot of stress. There was a growing pit in my stomach, and I did not immediately know where it came from. I decided to stop and list all the major changes happening in the world, our organization, and my family that were impacting me. The list grew, and so did my self-awareness. None of the things on the list were within my control to change, so I decided to respond by doing something that was within my control. I took a walk with the Lord. I have learned that stewing on problems that are not mine to solve is very unproductive. Instead, I do things that are mine to do.
Go to the Lord in prayer
Drink water
Move my body
Eat healthy food
Get good rest
Connect with close, trusted friends
The Lord met with me on my walk. The pit in my stomach got smaller with each step. Jesus lifted my head and my perspective. These circumstantial earthquakes are nothing new to him. Compared to his purposes and plans, which are as enduring and unfailing as he is, my list was transformed from overwhelming to opportunity. The opportunity is to find refuge in the God of our salvation, to ask for wisdom from the One who gives generously every time we ask, and to cast that list and those problems on him because he does care for me. They are his to solve. He is the Master I serve and the Shepherd who gives me rest.
Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
or too awesome for me to grasp.
Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
now and always.
Psalm 131
An agile mindset is essential in our work, but it does not replace our dependence on the Lord. Take some time to stop and identify the changes impacting you today. Bring them to Jesus with the posture of Proverbs 3:5,6.
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all of your digital strategies, and he will direct your path!
