The Leader's Constant Companion

Yesterday God used a message from Craig Groeschel at The Forum webcast  (here) to impact my thinking and my perspective on ministry.

Leader’s Constant Companion: Pain
As a result we flinch and are hesitant.
As a result we lead so as to avoid pain.

Purposeful Pain exists.
It leads to good results.

So often, the difference b/t where we are and where God wants us to be is the Pain we
are unwilling to endure.

Increasing our Pain Threshold.
3 Areas:
1) Increase our threshold in enduring unjustified rejection and criticism.
The quickest way for us to forget what God thinks of us is to become consumed
with what people think of us.
What is God calling ME to do.

2) Increase our threshold of pain in making the hard decisions.
The “bottom line” is too valuable for us to not make hard decisions.
Make hard decisions early…the longer we postpone them the harder they get.
Good leaders know there are times that you have to tell people (even your friends)
“this is going to hurt me more than this hurts you”.

If there is a painful decision facing you.  Step into it.  Grab it.  Make the decision
God is leading you to make.

3) Endure the pain of pruning.
John 15, true vine-gardener-prunes
If you blame yourself for the decline, one day you’ll take the credit for the
increase.
God may be cutting some things away in preparation for things to come.  There
may be times God prunes and we don’t understand.  He understands—and yet he
doesn’t tell/show us, yet.

There’s one promise in ministry:  God will break you.
Push through the pain.  There is more in you.
God wants to do more in you that you can ask or imagine.